In the final of three in-person panels at the Saskatchewan Festival of Words, three local artists joined moderator Angie Abdou — also originally from Moose Jaw — to talk about their approach to creating art in a small city.
Writer, activist and beadworker Lori Deets, hip-hop artist Philly 5 and musician and screenwriter Dustan Hlady took the stage at the Mae Wilson as the second-last event of the weekend.
The panel covered details of upcoming projects — including a new film from Hlady and recently released album Emerge from Philly 5, and the work Deets has been doing with the Indigenous community in the area.
Conversation also offered insights into how isolation during the pandemic helped all four people on the panel refocus and reconnect with their artistic intentions.
“I find this constant fight between making art that I think is authentic and real, and making something for an audience to be seen through a certain medium,” said Hlady. “If you're making something just to gain attention, which is today's currency, it dilutes your art, but if you don’t think about your audience, you won’t have one, and I’m back and forth on those questions a lot.”
“I found COVID gave me a space to sit with those questions a little bit and evaluate where I want to go with my career,” added Abdou.
The panel also talked about what it’s like finding a community as an emerging artist in Saskatchewan, and how it can be difficult balancing the drive for creativity with the responsibility of earning a living from art.
“I find my community is not always who you expect,” said Philly. “Family and friends always, you know, listen and are fans by nature but the people who really connect are sometimes from places you don’t know.”
The weekend wrapped up with one final virtual panel at the end of the day, concluding the 25th anniversary of the Festival of Words in Moose Jaw.
