The Pandemic
is a Portal

“Historically, pandemics have forced humans to break with the past and imagine their world anew. This one is no different. It is a portal, a gateway between one world and the next.”

Inspired by these words by Arundhati Roy, a group of us met in the Listening Room to pause, listen and share with each other as we shared friendship and stories as we moved from winter, into spring and then to imagine summer, beyond the pandemic and into a more just world.

Click any audio clip below to listen along.

Michael Burtt

Over 30 years, Michael has worked with environmental, labour, media, and faith-based sectors. Michael led Making Room Community Arts as its founder and Artistic Director where he developed Sand in Water, a process of community engagement bringing people together through meditation, story-sharing and hands on activities such as art-making.

Melanie Fernandez-Alvares

Melanie a drama artist who holds an ATCL in Speech and Drama from Trinity College (London) and coaches effective speaking and performance. Melanie is the creator/facilitator of Searching for Stories, a project that finds stories in unique personal connections and experiments with ways to give them voice.

Billy Main Pardo

Billy is an illustrator, maker, and community arts enthusiast who holds a BDES in Illustration from OCAD University. Billy is the hand behind bringing the stories of The Listening Room into the visual world, highlighting and celebrating community members’ generously shared words.