The RSM is looking for young poets to help launch its new exhibit

The Royal Saskatchewan Museum (RSM) will host a spoken word poetry competition for youth aged 15 to 21. The winner will join Louise Bernice Halfe – Sky Dancer as a presenter at a new exhibit’s gala this spring.

Those wanting to enter the slam should record a video of themselves reciting an original poem about the planet. It should include an Earth Day theme. Participants can win one of several prizes. The grand prize is $250, plus travel expenses and three tickets for the Home exhibit gala – to present alongside Halfe.

Complete details for how to compete are at royalsaskmuseum.ca/poetry-slam. The deadline is March 15. The winner will be announced on April 11.

Louise Bernice Halfe, also known by her Cree name, Sky Dancer, became Canada’s Parliamentary Poet Laureate in January 2021. Halfe was born in Alberta. She has a background in social work and has published several acclaimed and awarded books of poetry. She previously served as Saskatchewan’s second poet laureate.

The “Earth Day Poetry Slam Contest” will be part of the opening of a new gallery at RSM titled Home: Life in the Anthropocene.

Anthropocene is the name given to the geological age of measurable human impact on Earth’s geology, ecosystems, and climate. There is still debate as to whether the human age started with agriculture, when enormous sections of the planet’s surface began to be transformed into farmland, or with the Industrial Revolution, when we began literally moving mountains with our machines. If it did not start at those times, it certainly started with atomic bomb experiments, the residues of which will linger for millions of years.

Home: Life in the Anthropocene will highlight the relationship between people and their environment. It will replace the Human Factor exhibit and is opening on Earth Day, April 22.

The poetry contest is co-sponsored by the Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum and by the Phoenix Group.

The Friends of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum is a charitable non-profit that works with the RSM on retail, fundraising and development, and research and grant money.

Friends of the RSM Executive Director Craig Perrault said “I’m really excited about the Home exhibit. It’s a multifaceted, big installation that’s taking over the human impact space. Essentially showing all the different ways that humans have an impact on the planet, as well as different programs to help showcase how we can assist.”

Specific details of the new exhibit are still scarce ahead of its opening. On Jan. 12, the RSM’s Twitter account released a short video of a giant digital globe. They are promising more hints as the launch date approaches.

Glenn Sutter, curator of human ecology at the museum, and the curator of Home, said “It’s going to be pretty impactful on the way we talk about global issues. There’s a natural history element to it, and we’re looking at personal creativity and how it can help people connect to nature, especially through music.”

Sutter emphasized that while Home will have information on global issues, it zeroes in on Saskatchewan as well. It will feature all of the species that are at risk in the province, and showcase the size and extent of industries like agriculture and forestry. “We have a three-dimensional way to show how big and complex these issues are.”

Sutter added that he hopes visitors will walk away with an increased awareness of the issues, an appreciation for the research that went into creating the exhibit, a sense of how they are personally affected, and an idea of how they make an individual difference.