As of February 7 2023, Applications are currently closed

WORKING CLASS LAB  // CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS 

For the unjustly resilient and the radically disappointed who can’t afford giving up, this lab may be for you…

In the sanitized world of the arts industry where salaries and privileges are hidden, where living wages and progress are denied, and the discourse of change is led by monied elites, this lab is a space for us to confront empty representation and what is often silenced in the presence of power and greed. 

For 6 months we’ll talk about money, class and the “isms” that work for and against us. We will explore and break down how funding bodies distribute money towards low-income and precarious communities. We will analyze our relationships to class and debt. We will try to figure out what practical possibilities can emerge from our time together. 

This lab is for those who: 

  • Identify as working class and precarious dance and/or interdisciplinary artists who do not come from generational wealth

  • Seek to build economies of solidarity between working-class communities beyond the arts market

  • Want to build a wider awareness of class conditions

  • Wish to advocate for better labour protections and living wages with less fear 

Important dates and details: 

  • A fee of $2000 each will be provided for up to 6 participants

  • Meetings will take place twice a month 

  • Monday February 13, 2023 - Monday July 31, 2023 

  • This is an ONLINE program

  • There will be a showing of our time together

We will choose the format of our sharings

* Please get in touch directly about any accessibility needs you may require.* 

This lab is made possible through the generous funding and support of Dancemakers and Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence.

Facilitator Bio 

Shaista Latif is a working-class, queer, Afghan creator, performer, writer and facilitator. Her touring performance works The Archivist and How I Learned to Serve Tea have been presented by various presenting partners and festivals. She is a published playwright and has acted in a number of film and tv projects. In 2019/ 2020 she created and advocated for a salaried artist residency in collaboration with Why Not Theatre and Koffler Centre of the Arts. Latif is currently serving on the Third Party Review Committee at Buddies in Bad Times Theatre to help plan community consultations and events to highlight the need for labour protections. Shaista has worked with over 70 organizations teaching workshops. Instagram: shaistalatifmakes 

Personal Bio 

I am a child of Afghan refugees, raised in public housing. During my teens I spent time in a youth shelter, then started working professionally at the age of 19. I’ve spent the last 17 years cultivating an arts practice that aligns with my politics and resists colonial market logic. I don’t believe in the adage of “paying your dues.” I call it exploitation. I remain committed to being a menace to gatekeepers and elitists. I look forward to thinking and making together.