PuSh International Performing Arts Festival releases formal apology to former staffers
Board of directors regrets “unnecessary pain and suffering” and effects on the “wider PuSh community”
I Swallowed a Moon Made of Iron 我咽下一枚铁做的月亮 is one of the diverse shows featured at the 2022 rendition of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, which is rebuilding and ready to return to a full live program.
THE PUSH INTERNATIONAL Performing Arts Festival board of directors has released a formal apology to former employees Joyce Rosario and Janelle Wong-Moon about the handling of their termination.
The fest’s former full-time associate artistic director and audience services manager, respectively, were let go from the organization amid the pandemic in summer 2020, sparking controversy around the dismissals of two high-ranking women of colour in an organization that had long devoted itself to culturally diverse programming.
In the wake of those terminations, the then-board of directors announced that its recently installed artistic director Franco Boni, former artistic director of Toronto’s acclaimed The Theatre Centre was “no longer employed”. That sparked a further backlash. Later that month, 14 high-profile signatories from the arts community sent a letter to the PuSh board of directors saying that its restructuring decisions had harmed not only the fest’s reputation but also impacted the future of Vancouver’s performing arts community.
The organization launched a systemic review, consulting with community members and long-time supporters of the PuSh Festival, engaging facilitator Nicki Kahnamoui in the process.
In March of this year, PuSh’s last remaining five board members stepped down to make way for an entirely new board under the leadership of Camyar Chaichian. At the time, Chaichian told Stir one of his goals would be to finalize a resolution with the staff members who had been let go.
Signatories of the new apology letter are board members Chaichian, Carmen Aguirre, Justine Chambers, Lisa Cooke Ravensbergen, Sadira Rodrigues, Camilla Tibbs, and Johnny Wu.
This year, PuSh also announced new joint leadership of the multidisciplinary festival—Margo Kane, Gabrielle Martin, and Jason Dubois—and the organization has unveiled plans for a full live program for January-February 2022. (Last year’s fest was severely reduced during the pandemic, and its PuSh Rally was cancelled amid ongoing controversy over the terminations.)
Here is the public apology in full:
The Board of Directors of the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival unreservedly apologizes to Joyce Rosario and Janelle Wong-Moon for the handling of their terminations in June 2020 and the subsequent events.
We acknowledge the harm done to Joyce and Janelle’s careers, financial stability, reputations, and well-beinag. The disingenuous handling of their terminations, the public messaging about their departures, the incorrect statement attributed to Janelle, the way in which their names were used in the ensuing months without their consent was disrespectful. Regardless of the intentions, there was an absence of care in much of what took place, and it caused unnecessary pain and suffering. In addition, Janelle and Joyce’s significant contributions and achievements were not celebrated, and their departures lacked sensitivity and dignity. For this we are truly sorry.
We also acknowledge that the terminations had an impact on the wider PuSh community, which was evident in the responses and protestations expressed by artists, donors, former staff and board members. The organisation’s actions were a betrayal of the deep trust PuSh had built throughout its history with artists, stakeholders and the wider artistic community.
Earlier this year, a subcommittee of the recently elected PuSh Board of Directors entered into a mutually agreed upon process with Janelle and Joyce in an effort to move towards resetting the relationship between the institution and these two former employees. We, the current Board, saw these dialogues as part of the responsibility to both address past wrongs, but also set forward the practices of care and right relations that are needed for moving forward as an institution connected to a diverse community. We express deep gratitude to Janelle and Joyce for their willingness to go through this difficult process with us.
In thinking to the future of PuSh, its operational practices and organizational structure, the board and staff are continuing to actively work to identify and address harmful institutional practices. We are collectively creating new systems and ways of working that are anti-racist and that centre values of equity, diversity and inclusion. We thank our community of supporters for holding the space needed to arrive at sharing this apology.
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