Onni Nordman

Onni Nordman just managed to catch the last flight from Germany to Canada when the lockdown began. He had been artist-in- residence at the Max Planck Biochemistry Institute, where they had been among the first to study the novel coronavirus, in January 2020. Driving from Halifax airport to Sydney, overnight through deserted highways, he outran the winter’s biggest blizzard by an hour.

Wake of the Flood

Artist Project

Here is what happened: the sea rose and the well ran dry. That was 222 years ago, or maybe 22. No, it was 2 years ago. We crossed the sea of night, remember? Anyway, get out the pots and pans. Don’t just stand there dreaming.

Lumiere Arts Festival 2024 // The Art of Caring

Lumiere Arts Festival invites artists and community members to reflect on the concept of care.

In a polarized landscape, care can lap like a brook, or pound like large waves crashing ashore. To care is to tend, to root, to rebel, to share and to endure. This year, the festival is encouraging artists to submit works rooted in solidarity, with community building as resistance, that explores the need to care for ourselves, others, and the earth, both locally and globally. The Lumiere Arts Festival makes space for joy, contemporary art, and meaningful dialogue.

Land Acknowledgement

Lumière Arts Festival, on behalf of the board, the artists, and the communities we represent, acknowledges that we work, live and play in the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq people, in Unama’ki Cape Breton, who have stewarded these lands since time immemorial.

We are grateful not only for the strong and ongoing stewardship of these lands we call home, but also for the stories, music, and art that Mi’kmaq people continue to create and share, carrying ancestral voices, sacred teachings, and legacies of interconnectedness and resilience forward into the present and on to the future.

We aspire to reflect that sense of connection between past and present in our festival. We are inspired by L’nu artists to foster connection and self-reflection in our work. We will work to ensure that art is accessible, inclusive, and integrated into public spaces so that we can share our collective stories, recognizing the challenges of our past and imagining brighter futures.

We are all Treaty people.