North Okanagan's localism fuels B.C.’s cultural strength

I titled my article on the Czech community website Seznam, Surprisingly Cultural British Columbia. When my Canadian friends read it with the help of an automatic translator, they let me know that I might be exaggerating a bit, as they had never perceived Enderby in such a positive light.

Fair enough. I live on the border of the Czech Republic and Germany, two countries with several centuries of cultural history. But it would be quite difficult to find a community of 3,500 people that offers two art galleries selling local art, another one with content that could easily compete in the Tate Modern or the Venice Biennale, a library, a small museum, street art, and an enthusiastic Arts Council team with an extensive network of regular supporters. Yet, in Enderby, under the majestic rock by the salmon river, I found such a place.

And when I travelled to Vernon, Salmon Arm, Armstrong, places far from the expected cultural centers of Vancouver or Calgary, I continued to encounter not only a rich cultural offer but also a keen interest from consumers. A full cinema for an independent film or a packed hall for a lecture on climate change is something many European event organizers can only dream of.

My entire professional life has been devoted to awakening cultural life in the industrial region of northwestern Bohemia, and I must say that the conversations I had in B.C. were inspiring for my work. So much so that I am now preparing a project called Try Walking in May Shoes with friends for the European Capital of Culture Chemnitz 2025.

The word 'May' refers to Karl Friedrich May, a writer who, in the 19th century, walked through the mountains on the present-day Czech-German border, dreaming of distant lands and creating his vision of North America, where he had never been. His cowboy hero Old Shatterhand, who has a strong blood-bonded friendship with the Apache chief Winnetou, is the foundation of books and films that have influenced how many Europeans still view North American history. May sparked a nearly romantic love in Germans, Czechs, and many others for the Indigenous peoples of North America and the local wilderness. However, this admiration increasingly clashes with the boundaries of cultural appropriation, often quite strongly and clearly.

Do you know why so many Germans and more and more Czechs visit B.C.? I am sure it is often the sentiment from the works of the eternal dreamer May.

We decided that after 150 years, we would do it the other way around. We will let Canadian artists create their vision of the Czech-German Ore Mountains. We will provide them with some information, so like May, they will have a basis for dreaming up heroes, villains, adventure stories, and entire worlds. How will writers, visual artists, musicians, craftsmen, and other artists from B.C. reflect the communist past of both countries, post-war and current events? The outcome of the whole process should be part of the prestigious European Capital of Culture program in several forms.

"But why would Canadians want to be involved in something like this at all?" my good friend Calvin from Salmon Arm asked me, conveying the doubts of other friends, a writer from Victoria, and a sculptor from Armstrong. In a short time, he cooled my enthusiasm for the second time - first about Enderby, now about the idea of creative transatlantic collaboration.

We took the question seriously and spent hours and then days refining the project concept and creating a list of reasons why creatives from B.C. might be interested in May or the not-so-exotic region between northern Bohemia and German Saxony. And as I was finishing the presentation in Canva with what I hoped was a convincing list, few thoughts occurred to me.

Aren't my friends Calvin, Reg, and Mike being too critical? Has Enderby become so commonplace for them that they take the local cultural scene for granted? Do I really need to make only strictly logical arguments to persuade people for whom imagination is a fundamental part of life to create?

I will ponder this as I review the Canadian presentation version of the project MyMay.art.

But I am certain of one thing - British Columbia can be surprisingly cultural for many Europeans, even an artistic snob from the Czech Republic.

Mirek Koranda