Upcoming Prismatic Festival celebrates culture and creativity

Prismatic Arts Festival, a multidisciplinary festival, is preparing for its annual return to Halifax, featuring Indigenous artists and artists of colour.

The festival presents a variety of shows, each with its own unique portrayal of art.

Raeesa Lalani, Prismatic’s executive and artistic director, says the festival has always advocated for underrepresented voices.

“I want to help others. I want to support racialized people,” says Lalani. “I’m a racialized person myself, so I have the responsibility of being able to uplift and uphold people and provide those platforms and spaces.” 

Lalani, who curates the festival, travels around the world building relationships with artists.

“We’re always called upon to bring our knowledge, bring our expertise of the Canadian landscape to different countries because it really, truly is global — the arts are global,” she says. 

One exhibition features the work of Roger Mooking, a Trinidadian-Canadian chef, singer and artist. 

“People are disarmed at first because we explicitly tell them, ‘Touch the art, grab the art, lift it up, read it, play with it,’” says Mooking. 

His immersive view of art is largely shaped by his own view of the world as a creative and someone with ADHD. 

“When I went to the Louvre, I was trying to touch shit,” he says.

His exhibition, “Roger Mooking: SoundBites,” is currently on display at the Dalhousie Art Gallery. 

Related: Building new legacies with Black North American artists at Dal’s newest art showcase

Mooking’s Trinidadian roots come through in his art. 

“A lot of my art is really kaleidoscopic and bold, and I think that is definitely an aspect of the personality of the Trinidadian culture,” he says. 

He describes the show as chaotic due to it being curated with society’s ever-shortening attention spans in mind.

Every song off of his album-turned-art show is 90 seconds or less. The shortest song is only eight seconds. 

“Listening to that is a real barrage, because you’re going into an emotion so quickly, out of an emotion so quickly, into the next one.” 

In order to contextualize the constantly changing album, Mooking added visuals to every song. 

“When I packaged that all together, I was like, ‘This feels like an art gallery,’” says Mooking.

While the festival lasts two weeks each year, for Lalani it’s constantly on her mind.

“It’s not a career; it’s really my personal value system as well. That’s what I believe in — I want to help others. I want to support racialized people,” says Lalani.

See Mooking and other artists at the festival from Sept. 26 to Oct. 4.