YORKTON - Culture Days, a national celebration of arts and culture, officially kicked off across Canada today.
In Yorkton, students toured the brick mill, learned about wheat weaving, and studied the history boards about the community, as part of local efforts to mark the day.
And, a special guest stopped by to take part in the local effort.
Shannon Bowler, executive director of Culture Days nationally made Yorkton one of a trio of stops planned for Saskatchewan as the event launched across the country.
“This is my second Culture days as executive director, the first one I’ve been able to travel for,” she said on the Yorkton stop.
Bowler said she decided to make Saskatchewan her stop on opening days because the provincial organization in the province have always been both active, and supportive of Culture Days.
“I really wanted to come out here and show our support for them,” she said.
Locally Bowler said Yorkton “has been a Culture Days champion for years and year and years,” so stopping in the city was a natural, and she got to tour the mill which she found was a treat.
So what exactly is Canada’s culture from the perspective on the national organization’s head?
Bowler said it really shouldn’t be a discussion as to how Canadian culture is defined, adding it just isn’t all that important to have a single sentence definition.
“I don’t know if we should be so focused on one sentence ‘what Canadian culture is’,” she said.
Instead, Culture Days are more about an exploration of the diversity of culture, including nationally, but also allowing people to better appreciate local and event family culture and diversity.
“It’s discovering what’s here and really seeing the value . . . Learn about the differences,” offered Bowler, suggesting it’s more “a web of identity.”
Over time the web changes based on experiences, but as we learn more we are able to better understand and appreciate what we have in a community or as a country.
This year a focus for Culture Days is truth and reconciliation, which includes not only events Sept. 30 as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, but throughout the period up to Oct. 16.
