November 26, 1998

Hundreds attend Iqaluit FAS arts festival

More than 500 people jammed into Iqaluit's Anglican Parish Hall last week to participate in a vital learning exercise aimed at educating the public about fetal alcohol syndrome.

ANNETTE BOURGEOIS
Nunatsiaq News

IQALUIT — Hundreds of eyes fixed on Siobhan Arnatsiaq Murphy as she gyrated and twisted her body to the beat of a drum.

Her interpretive dance, "One heart, one drum" was the finale to an evening of performances at an arts festival at Iqaluit's Anglican Parish Hall last Saturday.

Sponsored by the Baffin Fetal Alcohol Network, the festival of performance and display arts was held to raise awareness about what happens to babies when mothers drink while they're pregnant.

"We didn't have expectations. We had hoped," organizer Janice Beddard said of her anticipated success of the first-ever exhibition of its kind in Iqaluit.

The festival was held as part of National Addictions Awareness Week.

Beddard and other members of the group spent hours talking to more than 500 people, mostly schoolchildren, about fetal alcohol syndrome/effects before last Saturday. That effort showed results as townspeople crowded into the hall to watch and learn.

"I felt so positive about all the work that had led up to it, so much learning was taking place and so much interest in FAS was happening. Everybody seemed to be talking about it all the time," Beddard said. "When we got the turnout we did, I was ecstatic. I was thrilled."

Lots of participation

"Don't drink while you're pregnant" and "Alcohol hurts the baby," were just a couple of the messages from schoolchildren whose dozens of posters covered the walls of the hall. A school in Arctic Bay also submitted artworks.

Watercolours, jewellery and carving were other media artists choose to represent their message. As well, there were songs, puppets and poems.

Theresa Blackburn Chisolm and her daughter, Kristen, even created a display of complete and collapsed miniature inukshuks representing the whole and broken parts of society, a reality that occurs when babies are born disadvantaged and suffering from FAS/E.

Materials and honoraria were offered to artists, but not all accepted that offer, Beddard said.

"Not everybody took the honorarium and some people have donated their work to our group."

Anyone who missed the festival can see many of the artworks on display at the Nunatta Sanakkutaangit Museum in Iqaluit for the next couple of weeks.

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