Sunday, March 21, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
Kyber 18th anniversary celebrates the 15th anniversary
With the ironic goal of preserving institutional memory, the Khyber celebrated its 15th anniversary on the 18th anniversary. I was happy to see bits of the archives pulled out and dusted off, having lost my own copies of everything in a fire a few years ago. Many of these fragments (some dated over 15 years ago) may be the only remaining examples.
This first photo is from the "timeline" painted on the wall outside the washrooms on the first floor, not part of this exhibit but an earlier attempt to preserve memory, or perhaps illustrate its lack. The 1992-1994 era, when the Khyber in its current role as a cultural centre was founded, is represented somewhat humorously (I doubt deliberately) by a blank space next to the fire alarm trigger. The text underneath says "furnace removed" (that was 93 when HRM tried to leave the building to literally rot without a furnace, but were pressured into stepping up by Heritage Trust, read Joyce McCullogh), "DJ, music [etc]" (which would be 93-94), "Chestnut Tree Theatre" (93-94 or maybe early 94). Also it says "artists squatting" which never happened but was a popular urban legend propagated by the arts community.
The gap in the timeline represents a very active time at the Khyber, when it actually generated revenue and had no public funding, employed about 30 people, successfully fought many battles with bureaucracies, developed huge visibility in the community and media, and won City Council's agreement for the Khyber as a cultural centre (a point which some HRM staff have forgotten since). But why is it blank? What happened to the institutional or even anecdotal memory of those years that lead to a Khyber 15 year retrospective in its 18th year?
And does it really matter?
For the sake of the many, many people who contributed time, love and faith to the Khyber during that time, we should not forget that those who came after, did so on their shoulders. There were up to 200 active volunteers in those years, besides the staff. I have never seen such commitment to a cause at any other similar centre, and doubt I ever will again. If we value the Khyber as part of this city's soul, we should recognize their efforts.
I founded the Khyber but that is nothing - the thousands of people who passed through those doors for many reasons in those months - they saved it, rebuilt it, loved it, fought for it, and won a round for all Haligonians.
What happened after spring of 1995 is a whole other tale: different mandate, more shoulders, more battles.
In a last irony, even now, the idea of the 15th anniversary continues to be propagated, media and other websites have not been corrected, not even the Khyber's own. So the blank space next to the fire alarm continues to fulfill some need to remember a certain way.
This first photo is from the "timeline" painted on the wall outside the washrooms on the first floor, not part of this exhibit but an earlier attempt to preserve memory, or perhaps illustrate its lack. The 1992-1994 era, when the Khyber in its current role as a cultural centre was founded, is represented somewhat humorously (I doubt deliberately) by a blank space next to the fire alarm trigger. The text underneath says "furnace removed" (that was 93 when HRM tried to leave the building to literally rot without a furnace, but were pressured into stepping up by Heritage Trust, read Joyce McCullogh), "DJ, music [etc]" (which would be 93-94), "Chestnut Tree Theatre" (93-94 or maybe early 94). Also it says "artists squatting" which never happened but was a popular urban legend propagated by the arts community.
The gap in the timeline represents a very active time at the Khyber, when it actually generated revenue and had no public funding, employed about 30 people, successfully fought many battles with bureaucracies, developed huge visibility in the community and media, and won City Council's agreement for the Khyber as a cultural centre (a point which some HRM staff have forgotten since). But why is it blank? What happened to the institutional or even anecdotal memory of those years that lead to a Khyber 15 year retrospective in its 18th year?
And does it really matter?
For the sake of the many, many people who contributed time, love and faith to the Khyber during that time, we should not forget that those who came after, did so on their shoulders. There were up to 200 active volunteers in those years, besides the staff. I have never seen such commitment to a cause at any other similar centre, and doubt I ever will again. If we value the Khyber as part of this city's soul, we should recognize their efforts.
I founded the Khyber but that is nothing - the thousands of people who passed through those doors for many reasons in those months - they saved it, rebuilt it, loved it, fought for it, and won a round for all Haligonians.
What happened after spring of 1995 is a whole other tale: different mandate, more shoulders, more battles.
In a last irony, even now, the idea of the 15th anniversary continues to be propagated, media and other websites have not been corrected, not even the Khyber's own. So the blank space next to the fire alarm continues to fulfill some need to remember a certain way.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
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