Last week, Christina Battle and Emilie Neudorf, BlackFlash’s operations assistant, met for the first time and shared a short virtual conversation about the magazine’s new Online Editor position. They discussed the prairie art ecology and how the expansion of our online platforms aims to provide opportunities for prairie artists, writers, and creatives. We hope this short interview will give BlackFlash readers a better idea of what they can expect over the next few months and how the role will activate our publishing practice.
Emilie: What are you most excited to bring to BlackFlash readers through this position?
Christina: I’m excited to share some of the amazing work I see happening across arts communities with others, and look forward to supporting artists and writers who are invested in contemporary arts. I’m especially interested in considering what the space of the online might offer us as a sector, and in finding strategies for weighing both its benefits and failings.
Emilie: How do you envision this position creating/facilitating important conversations about the arts?
Christina: I’m looking forward to supporting the rich dialogue and critical questioning that the magazine fosters through the space of the online. In engaging a diverse group of artists and writers – especially those across the prairie region – to respond to the times in the rapid and expanded ways that the online affords.
Emilie: Speaking of the prairies, why is it important for the prairie community, in particular, to engage with the arts?
Christina: There is such a rich history of artistic work and cultural production across the prairies and I’m excited to share that with others. Artists remind us to question, to challenge, and to imagine how things might be otherwise and – especially given the times – I think we all benefit from paying more attention to them.
Emilie: What is something that excites you about being involved in the arts in Canada?
Christina: I think we’re living through a really interesting moment in the arts right now in Canada – one that has started to take on a new shape since 2020 when so many issues began to rise to the surface. From conversations around accessibility and who we’re considering (and not considering) when we engage as a sector; to issues of sustainability (both relationally and environmentally); to the increased conversations that both Black Lives Matter and Indigenous Justice movements have fueled across recent years, insisting that we pay more attention to the systemic racism that sits at the core of our systems and structures in the arts. These times are interesting times and, although I know that these days feel especially heavy for many of us, I truly see so much potential for just change within them.
Christina is an artist based in amiskwacîwâskahikan, (also known as Edmonton, Alberta), within the Aspen Parkland: the transition zone where prairie and forest meet. Christina’s practice focuses on thinking deeply about the concept of disaster and the ways in which it might be utilized as a framework for social change. Much of this work extends from her recent PhD dissertation (2020) which looked closer to community responses to disaster: the ways in which they take shape, and especially to how online models might help to frame and strengthen such responses. For more information on Christina’s practice, visit: http://cbattle.com
If you would like to get in touch with Christina, she can be contacted at expanded@blackflash.ca
This project is generously funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Now. We are grateful to Canada Council for the Arts and SK Arts for their ongoing support.
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