Haviah Mighty Live Stream Kicks Off Origin Arts + GCTC Partnership On Origin Kitchen Concerts

The Origin Arts and Community Centre and the Great Canadian Theatre Company are announcing their partnership on Origin Kitchen Concerts.

The partnership launches on March 27 at 7:30pm with a locally live streamed performance from Haviah Mighty, 2019 Polaris Prize winner (the first hip-hop artist and the first Black woman to win) and one of the most influential artists currently working in Canada. Tickets are available by a pick-your-price model, with options ranging from $5, $15, $25, to $40.

The concert will be followed by more performances in April, with plans to extend the partnership into the 2021/22 season. Origin is curating a series of concerts, to be streamed on location at GCTC, beginning with live streams of their popular Origin Kitchen Concerts (OKC) which features performance, culinary and visual arts. The partnership officially launches on March 27 with headliner Haviah Mighty, performing a live streamed concert at 7:30pm EST. Tickets will be available through GCTC's box office and include the chance to win one of seven meals, home-delivered by Habesha restaurant, the popular Montreal Road outfit that specializes in Ethiopian cuisine. The visual artist that will be highlighted is none other than Ottawa's Fatuma Kou. OKC returns to GCTC on April 24 in partnership with Cranium Festival, featuring double headliners Blakdenim, the eight-piece hip hop band that continues to flourish from its home base in Ottawa, and Dwayne Morgan, internationally recognized poet, author and motivational speaker.

"OKC is an ode to how our communities celebrated art through transforming small spaces into dynamic expressive experiences. Our homes and neighbourhoods were filled with creative, cultural expression, and I want to inspire people to continue those traditions of gathering for the sake of art," says Jamaal Jackson Rogers, aka Just Jamaal the Poet, of Origin.

In addition to the upcoming OKC series, Origin will offer three stand-alone events as part of GCTC's 2021/22 season. Details of these projects will be announced in coming months.

GCTC's artistic director, Eric Coates, describes the partnership as an overdue commitment to the Black community. "We may have felt that we were doing a good job of being inclusive here in the past, but we were still making the programming decisions internally. This partnership brings Origin Arts into the building with an obligation only to their own impulse. It's past time that we pay attention and I am enormously grateful to Jamaal, Jacqui and Captain for taking this step with us."

Haviah Mighty photo credit: Matt Barnes.

PERFORMANCE TIMES
Haviah Mighty - March 27, 7:30pm EST
Blakdenim & Dwayne Morgan - April 24, 7:30pm EST

Tickets for Haviah Mighty are on sale soon at GCTC's box office at 613-236-5196 or online at https://www.gctc.ca/events/haviah-mighty. Prices range from $5, $15, $25, to $40.