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A couple of weeks ago we did an interview with a classical musician who told us how important the online environment is to musicians. With live performances cancelled, the online world is the only way for them to reach their audiences. Today we hear from a director of photography in the film world who says that musicians are keeping film makers busy. And before that we take a dive into the world of video gaming. We wanted to include video game designers in this series because, first of all, it's an example of an industry that hasn't been hard hit by the pandemic. With so many people at home, the video gaming industry is booming. Stephan Reilly is a professional game designer, semi-professional writer and a self described completely amateur human trying his best to pay rent and make cool stuff. He is originally from Ontario, but has relocated to Halifax. Follow along with his shenanigans on Twitter @StephanReilly. Heather Cleveland is a game designer at HB Studios. She spent four years earning her bachelors in game design at Sheridan College in Ontario. After graduating in the spring of 2020 she packed up her life and moved to Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, and entered the video game industry as it shifted to remote work. She's been working from home since the beginning of pandemic. An interesting side note -- she started her job after the pandemic started, so she's never met some of her colleagues in person because nobody is going in to the office. She says she wouldn't recognize some of them if she ran into them in the grocery store. And for the final interview, host Victoria Fenner caught up with Gabriela Vanden by phone while she was waiting for a train in Churchill, Manitoba, back on November 19. Gabriela tell us what she was doing way up there and why she was waiting for the train to take her back to Toronto. And also how she's been able to use COVID downtime for some reflection, rest and recharging. She's created some innovative projects too. Gabriela is a Venezuelan/Canadian cinematographer based in Toronto Canada. With a background in visual arts, she uses her intuitive esthetic sense to elevate the narrative of the projects she works on, whether that be documentary or fiction films. Volcano (2019) directed by Karen Moore and shot by Gabriela was selected and premiered at TIFF. Her work has screened at Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, Images festival and has been distributed by CBC, NFB, and TV5. Her talent has led to opportunities outside of Canada, including the U.S., South America, Europe and Asia. Her cinematography thesis The Rambler (2016) was selected to screen at CAMERIMAGE and won her an internship shadowing Phedon Papamicheal ASC GSC on Alexander Payne's Downsizing where she worked as a camera trainee on the Norway division of the 73-day shoot. She graduated from York University with a bachelor of fine Arts in honours film production. Images: Heather Cleveland, Stephan Reilly, Gabriela Vanden. Used with permission. Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Before we started this series My Art Wears a Mask, rabble.ca podcast producer Victoria Fenner sent a shout out on rabble inviting emerging artists to share their experiences doing art in the time of COVID-19. Here is one of the responses she received: "My name is Tricia Robinson and I'm a a 30-year-old female illustrator in Montreal, Quebec. I'm also a labour organizer and founder of a labour union in 2019 with my previous part time job. Since the pandemic lockdowns started unravelling, I hit over-drive on the art production. I started producing loads of illustrations daily on my social media, and being laid off and then fired from my part time job, was really not sure what my income and financial state (which was already unstable) would look like. Art didn't only become a coping mechanism for me, but it became more of a survival tactic than it ever was. It's been a really wild ride, and doesn't seem to be slowing any time soon." Tricia describes herself as "an activist who often likes to contribute her skills and resources toward fundraising and awareness-raising efforts for organizations like Pride, Rock Camp Montréal, her own non-profit initiative: The Hair Project, women's shelters and other community organizations throughout Canada." You can see her artwork and read more about Tricia Robinson here. Music: You Gotta Die by Tricia Robinson. Used with permission. Artwork: Tricia Robinson. Used with permission. Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Today we're going to hear two conversations with two classical musicians, and also, some really fabulous music. Today's guests are both string players -- Maxime Despax is a viola player whose family home is in Gatineau, Quebec, but he's studying in Toronto right now. Yanet Campbell is a violinist who was born in Cuba. She is now studying at the Glenn Gould Studio of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Musicians are especially hard hit by the pandemic. Live music, which is the lifeblood of most performers, has come to a stand-still. What you'll hear from both of our guests today are stories of adaptability. And, in case you're wondering how music is happening in the virtual space, our guests have some insights into that too. Maxime plays in a number of ensembles, including a string quartet Quatuor Despax, comprised of Maxime and his three brothers and sisters. The ensemble was formed in 2003, and before the pandemic they played concerts in Canada and Europe. Yanet Campbell is an accomplished soloist, chamber and orchestral musician. Her skilled and sensitive playing has enabled her to perform not just in some of the most important venues in Cuba, but throughout Europe and the Caribbean. Yanet has performed in major international music festivals in Europe. She received her master of music from Memorial University of Newfoundland and she is currently in the first the year of the artist diploma program at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. Thanks to both of our musicians for giving us permission to play some of their music on today's show: Jean Sibelius's Violin Concerto in D Minor -- First Movement -- Yanet Campbell, violin Prelude for Viola by Benjamin Harry Sajo -- performed by Maxime Despax, viola Fantasy for String Quartet -- performed by Quatour Despax -- Maxime, Cendrine, Valerie and Jean Despax, written by their late father Emmanuel Despax. Image: Yanet Campbell and Maxime Despax. Used with permission.

"I think the thing about this pandemic and everything going online has made it more accessible for people like me who live in remote places or for people who don't live in remote places but as disabled but who can't leave their house still." -- Kimberly Edgar Kimberly Edgar is an award-winning comic artist living on Tr'ondek Hwech'in land in so-called Dawson City, Yukon. Kimberly's work reflects on their experiences of both the medical system and the ennui that comes with being sick with no end, often comparing human bodies with the land-as-body. Kimberly also holds a Broken Pencil Zine Award for best comic in 2019, and is the recipient of grants from Cue, Canada Council, and from the On Yukon Time program, a special initiative by the Yukon government to support artists and organizations in this time of lost revenue and uncertainty. They also have pieces in two permanent art collections in Canada, and are currently curating a northern comics anthology and working on a graphic novel, thanks to funding from the Yukon Government. Kimberly is originally from Ottawa, and they talk to Victoria Fenner about life and art in Canada's north. Surprisingly, the isolation and small community is working well for them and has created conditions that allow their art and economic life to be better than it was before the pandemic. Just a note about the timing of this interview. It was done on November 11, which was only a bit over two weeks ago. But, in those two weeks, a few things that Kimberly talked about in the interview have changed. At the time of the original conversation, there were no cases of COVID-19 in Dawson City. In a report by CBC this week, there is now a case of COVID-19 in Dawson City. In this interview, Kimberly shares how they are doing during COVID-19 and talks about the unique arts community that exists in the territory. Image: "Feel Deeply" Copyright Kimberly Edgar. Used with permission. Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

A few months ago when all of the rabble staff members were talking about what we could do to focus on the effects of COVID, our editor-in-chief, Matt DiMera, suggested that we do a podcast series focusing on Canada's emerging artists. This series you will hear over the next six weeks is exactly that. Every week until December 24, we'll be sharing the ideas, words and art of six emerging artists from across Canada. Series producer Victoria Fenner reflects that she is surprised by the range of stories she's heard so far, and she still has three more interviews to do. She reflects, "I expected to hear mostly stories about economic insecurity and fear. And for sure, that element is there -- these are scary times for all of us. But I was surprised and happy to hear a hopefulness, a sense of resilience and even a few cases where the shutdown has been good for our guests' art. Despite the devastatingly difficult times, good things are also happening." The series starts with Mya Gomez. She describes herself this way: "Singing from the raw; Mya Gomez is a mixed Indigenous urban artist who writes from the the most honest parts of the human condition, hoping to bridge gaps for her audiences and tell her stories. Mya strives to connect with people through her powerful voice, and emotion." She's from Waterloo and the Ottawa Valley, and is now living in Toronto. We did this interview a few weeks ago just before a competition she refers to -- she was nominated for an Indigenous Music Award in the Music Video Competition for Novice Artists. Spoiler -- she placed third. This interview features two of Mya's songs -- Take My Hand and I Can't Breathe. Click on the links to see the songs with video. You can find Mya's web page here. Mya asked us to let all of you know that she wants I Can't Breathe to raise money for Black Lives Matter Canada, or two of the other organizations she supports – The Outside Looking In dance program for Indigenous youth, and a Go Fund Me project for Indigenous Youth Outreach. Image and music: Mya Gomez. Used with permission. Music theme for the series: reNovation by airtone. Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license.

Why are so many people saying that we can deal with climate change, or we can put all of our efforts into stopping COVID-19, but we can't do both at the same time? Today's show is about a report that says we can, and must, look at this in a holistic way. Farmers for Climate Solutions is putting forward proposals that link recovery from COVID-19 with solutions to mitigate the effects of climate change. The report is called "A Better Future starts on the Farm: Recommendations for Recovery from COVID-19 in Canadian Agriculture." Farmers for Climate Solutions is a pan-Canadian coalition of more than 16 member groups. Today's interview is with Dana Penrice, a grain and cattle farmer who lives near Shoal Lake, Manitoba. She is also Prairie program manager with member organization The Young Agrarians, a farmer-to-farmer resource network for new and young farmers with a lens on ecological, organic and regenerative agriculture in Canada. She talked to rabble.ca podcast host and producer Victoria Fenner a wide range of topics relating to food security and agriculture, always circling around and coming back to COVID-19 and the lessons we are learning from the pandemic which we can use in the fight for climate change. Related reading: rabble.ca's columnist on food security and agriculture, Lois Ross, also wrote a related story about this topic this week: read her story here. Image: Victoria Fenner/rabble.ca

This year's Pride celebrations all over the country are very different from years past because of COVID-19. It's taking a lot of creativity, amidst a whole bunch of disappointment to create celebrations which can't include getting together in person. A lot of festivals are going online. Pride Hamilton just had its online festival online this past Sunday, June 14. This year's festival would have been different in tone regardless of COVID-19, because of violence that broke out at last year's festival that the LGBTQ2s communities are still grappling with. On today's show, rabble radio host Victoria Fenner talks to Cameron Kroetsch of the Pride Hamilton board of directors. They talk about what happened last year, and its effect on Pride Hamilton this year. There have been demands for accountability from the police and city hall ever since last year's Pride, and the police actions have cast a long shadow over the past 12 months. The topic of defunding the police is something that is especially relevant in Hamilton this month. Here's a brief recap of what happened last year -- a group of protesters, some with fundamentalist religious beliefs and others associated with the yellow vest movement, also came to Gage Park where Pride Hamilton was being held. Their intention was to disrupt the festival. Violence broke out, several people were injured, and the police did not intervene. Those defending the police say it's because they weren't ready for it. But a lot of other people believe the police stood back because they chose not to get involved. There have been many reports done -- an independent report released just last week on June 8, called Pride in Hamilton – An Independent Review Surrounding Hamilton Pride 2019, commissioned by Hamilton Police Services Board, also draws the conclusion that the response by the police fell far short of what it should have been. To quote the report, written by lawyer Scott Bergman, "On June 15, 2019, homophobes, white supremacists and organized agitators disrupted Hamilton Pride 2019. Their activities could reasonably have been anticipated by police, but they weren't. As a result, the police response was inadequate -- before, during and after the event." But, despite the after effects from last year, Cameron Kroestch says it was a great online Pride Hamilton Festival this year. Though it was hard not to be able to celebrate in person, they discovered a whole bunch of new ways to engage with the community. The discussions with the city and the Hamilton police board about last year and ongoing issues will continue. Image: Digital Pride Hamilton. Used with permission

In the ongoing coverage of the COVID-19 crisis, there are many places that we don't hear a lot about. One of the places is Africa. On today's rabble radio, we're playing two interviews from rabble contributors who have reached out to their colleagues and contacts in Africa -- one in Mozambique, another in Tanzania. In some ways, the challenges people face there aren't a lot different from here. Businesses, schools and government offices are shut down. People are told to wear masks and to social distance. And the problem of misinformation, rumours and fake news exists there as well as here. But, as we'll hear in these two interviews, it's a lot harder in places where people don't only have to fight off the virus, but also have to deal with systemic poverty and, especially inadequate health care. In a May 20 article, the BBC reported a World Health Organization prediction that nearly a quarter of a billion Africans could contract COVID-19 in the first year of the pandemic. Numbers are still low so far -- as of today, there are just over 111,000 cases and almost 2,800 deaths, which is lower than other places in the world according to a June 3, 202o report by the WHO. Today's show features two interviews: 1.) On May 21, David Kattenburg of the Green Planet Monitor spoke with GPM correspondent Josephat Mwanzi, in the Tanzanian capital, Dar es Salaam. In an interview from May 21, 2o2o, they talked about the what Mwanzi was seeing on the streets, and how people are reacting to the COVID-19 threat. 2.) Our second interview focuses on Mozambique and comes to us from the Saskatoon-based radio program Making the Links. Don Kossick posted this interview on May 22. It's with Jessie Forsyth, project director of the Mozambique Canada Maternal Health Project, talking to Making the Links host Don Kossick about the impact of COVID-19 in Mozambique, and initiatives there to deal with the impact. Both interviews on today's show were excerpts from longer interviews. To hear the entire interviews, go to greenplanetmonitor.net for the interview with Josephat Mwanzi and to Soundcloud for the interview with Jessie Forsyth. Image: Victoria Fenner

Liz Marshall's new film Meat the Future focuses on a new way of producing meat -- one where the animal doesn't have to be killed. Instead, cells are taken from a living animal and meat is produced from those cells. The possibility presents a brave new world of animal agriculture, a world where we can still eat meat without participating in the harm and suffering that is rampant in the current industrial animal husbandry model. While more and more people are deciding that a vegetarian diet is the way to go, meat consumption continues to grow. Is cell-based meat a compromise that can reduce the environmental costs of a diet that contains meat? The film also explores the environmental costs of our meat-based diet and presents a way forward. The central character in the film is cardiologist Dr. Uma Valeti, the co-founder and CEO of start-up company Memphis Meats. The industry, and his company is so new that none of its products are on grocery store shelves yet. Documentary writer, producer and director Liz Marshall believes that Dr. Valetti is on the right track. "What the future holds for cell-based meat is unclear," says Marshall, "but I believe its revolutionary promise and historic journey into the world will stand the test of time." She talks to rabble radio host and producer Victoria Fenner in this edition of rabble.ca's series Climate hope in the time of pandemic. You can see the documentary for yourself on the CBC website. It's posted as part of the Hot Docs@Home collection. Image: Thainafreitas/Pixabay

The seeds we buy to plant our gardens are an exercise of hope in a tiny package. After all, how do we know that those little bitty things are ever going to amount to anything? For farmers, the annual spring seed shipment can bring with it a whole mixture of emotions as they wondered what those bags would bring. What kind of weather conditions will exist this year? Will it be a full harvest, or would the elements conspire to reduce the family's income through rain, hail, drought or a bug invasion? There is a lot of hope and fear connected to those bags of seeds. Today, as part of our series Climate Hope in the Time of Pandemic, we're talking about the power of seeds. SeedChange (formerly known as USC Canada) is a non-profit organization that works with farmers in Canada and around the world to save seeds and grow food sustainably. SeedChange has launched a public education campaign to help ensure a more resilient Canadian food supply post-COVID-19. It's rolling out its programming with farmers coast to coast to continue improving Canada's seed security during the pandemic. SeedChange is enlisting more than 200 farmers across the country this summer to grow sustainable local vegetable seed crops, save seeds at risk of extinction, promote biodiversity, and breed new seed varieties best suited for local climate and soil conditions. Victoria Fenner, rabble radio's producer, had a conversation with Jane Rabinowicz, SeedChange's executive director and Chris Sanford, from Yonder Hill Farm near Lunenburg in Nova Scotia about the program and how individual gardeners can get involved. And lots of useful info -- the interview also includes a how-to about saving seeds from rotting tomato guck. SeedChange has some resources to help gardeners find companies which produce seeds sustainably. You can also look for seeds by a particular variety. For more info, click here. Image: ParentingPatch/Wikimedia