click to enlarge Reeny Smith wows at Prismatic
Francis Fares studied art for six years in Italy.
The local developer, best known for his King's Wharf Development on the Dartmouth waterfront, shared this tidbit at the opening reception for the
Prismatic Arts Festival. He went on to say that he felt art, more so than buildings, revealed the true soul of a city.
And, why, you might ask, is this important?
For me, it illuminates one of the things I took away from last night's outdoor concert at Alderney Landing Theatre. Namely, that events like Prismatic bring people from diverse groups together around a table built from art. It offers a chance to experience art forms that are familiar and to experience something new.
The concert was a sampler for many of the longer shows going on this weekend including
Dinuk Wijeratne and Friends (Innovative eclectic), ,
Canadian Primos (Jazz),
The Sanctified Brothers (Gospel),
Zacchaeus Jackson (Spoken word),
JP Cormier (Folk),
Eh440 (Pop A Capella),
Allysa Flint (Spoken Word) and
Reeny Smith (Soul). There was also a performance by a First Nations Drum group whose name I can't find on the program, but whose leader shared some powerful, moving stories about the experiences of the Aboriginal people in Canada. It was a perfect example of Prismatic giving voice to those who are not heard often enough here in Halifax.
The crowning event of the evening was the
Fireworks FX pyro show that combined, flame fireworks and music.
Awesome!