Imagine Halifax: Cool Culture

The Chamber of Commerce is reaching the middle of its five-part discussion series, Imagine Halifax. The theme of the third discussion is Cool Culture, though the perspectives coming forward on the panel are more of the well-established cultural honchos of Halifax. The facilitator will be Chris Hornsberger of Halifax Global, with panellists Ann MacKenzie (Film NS), George Pothitos (Neptune Theatre), Andrew Whittemore (HRM) and MSVU professor DeNel Rehberg Sedo, who brings forth points that make the discussion seem promising. Seeing culture as one of the most important “prongs of sustainability,” she notes the danger of “commodifying culture, as culture is not only there to be sold.” Sedo says the way to progression is to make small, independent cultural productions---such as theatres, small publishers and recreations----more accessible to the mainstream medium by giving them more funding. It’s true that there are a lot of productions in Halifax that are affordable, but they don’t get enough exposure to benefit the city. “We need to support local, smaller artists before established artists,” says Sedo.