Coming in at number 10 this year is a preview of artist Maurina Joaquin\u2019s exhibit at theDock, Natural Transformations<\/i>. In Joaquin\u2019s exhibit, she expresses her difficulties with healing from a brain injury through artistic expression.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe silhouette heads [used in pieces in the exhibit] represent the individual struggle to not just belong, but to come back to this society,\u201d Joaquin said in the piece. \u201cIn the state of chaos, in the height of recovery, sometimes you don\u2019t think you\u2019re ever going to get anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n Joaquin has worked within the community of those recovering from injuries similar to hers through the Victoria Brain Injury Society. Her artwork in this exhibit was an extension of her outreach work in a sense since it further connects people over her experience. Through her pieces, Joaquin exemplifies how artwork can be used as a medium for personal healing, and by exhibiting her work it helps others who are also struggling. To get this in-depth look into the concept of her work, Nexus<\/i> writer Daniel Ellerton spoke with Joaquin for this revealing story.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are all dealing with a similar thing\u2014what does work look like for us? Who\u2019s going to hire us?\u201d said Joaquin. \u201cThat\u2019s where I thought about what I could do to help them figure out what they needed to figure out\u2014through art\u2014because many do not see art as a medium of healing.\u201d<\/p>\n 9: \u201cCamosun Indigenous Education student gifts college library with art\u201d (May 30, 2022, written by Lane Chevrier)<\/a><\/p>\n Our ninth most-read story of the year also revolved around art. For this one, Nexus<\/i> staff writer Lane Chevrier talked to Camosun student Alisha Parks, who had recently given the college a gift of artwork. Parks had gifted the Lansdowne library with her piece Gifts of the Heartberry<\/i>, which we also ran on the cover of the issue this story appeared in. Parks told Chevrier she was encouraged to engage with community in her Indigenous Education classes; as an Indigenous student with disabilities, Parks also wanted to share her experience.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a person who has dealt with a lot of oppression, it was very important for me to try and bring this to people because of the impact it had on me, so I also felt that I wanted to try and do this project in a way that spoke in the language that I\u2019m most fluent in, which has always been art,\u201d Parks told Chevrier.<\/p>\n Similar to Joaquin\u2019s use of art, Parks\u2019 message in her gift is that of understanding. Parks hopes to help individuals with disabilities; in the story, she explained that many Indigenous languages don\u2019t have words for disabilities. The difference in linguistics affects the speaker\u2019s perception of disability. Parks believes that through this difference people with disabilities can be empowered.<\/p>\n \u201cIt changes your perspective. Instead of seeing disability as a deficiency within the individual, it shifts it to saying, actually, it\u2019s the way in which we structure our social networks, and how we structure the systems that we utilize that create that, and it doesn\u2019t need to,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can do that differently.\u201d<\/p>\n 8: Belfry play Kindred <\/i>gets real about adulting (June 1, 2022, written by Nicolas Ihmels)<\/a><\/p>\n The subject of managing personal hardships through artistic expression continues here in our eighth most-read story of 2022. Staff writer Nicolas Ihmels\u2019 coverage of director Lauren Taylor\u2019s rendition of Kindred: A Fairy Tale for Adults<\/i> sheds light on this. The play exhibits several different kinds of difficulties related to becoming more mature.<\/p>\n \u201c[The play is] about how they negotiate their very busy lives and try to find themselves in the face of separation, and sort of go through the hardships of co-parenting and separation and what that means, and also coming out the other side of that, so working through all those difficult and complicated situations in order to move on with one\u2019s life,\u201d Taylor told Ihmels.<\/p>\n Broadly speaking, everyone has dealt with issues relating to growing up at some point in some way. Audience members connect and reflect on their lives as attendants of Joaquin\u2019s exhibit and viewers of Parks\u2019 painting and, here, Taylor\u2019s play.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope that people will come away having had a good time out,\u201d said Taylor. \u201cBut I hope that they get a bit of hope, the idea of atonement, and joy, and relief, and also just maybe a nice time with each other at the theatre after this tricky two years that we\u2019ve had. It would be nice to feel like we\u2019re a community coming back together again.\u201d<\/p>\n 7: \u201cCamosun students from Kenya raise $2,500 for Doctors Without Borders\u201d (January 12, 2022, written by Lane Chevrier)<\/a><\/p>\n Breaking from the focus on arts in the list so far, our seventh most-read piece of the year is this news\/human-interest story written by Lane Chevrier. Thanks to Camosun\u2019s work with the World University Service of Canada, nine refugees were brought to Victoria from Kenya in an employment-linked sponsorship program called HIRES. Students in Judith Hunt\u2019s English Language Development class were inspired to give back to society, so they organized a fundraiser for Doctors Without Borders (DWB), and raised $2,500.<\/p>\n \u201cThey were super eager and enthusiastic about being able to raise money for somebody in need, and so with all their enthusiasm, I said, well, if you want to, we can do a fundraiser,\u201d Hunt told Chevrier in the story. \u201cI\u2019ve never done one before with a class, but it just seemed like the motivation was so strong it seemed like a good thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n Mohamed Abdinasir, one of the nine students, said that the class chose DWB because of the help the organization has provided to Kenya. And by putting together public-service initiatives like this, these students are putting into action the goals set out by the artists in the other pieces we\u2019ve already discussed here.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve been here in Canada for just three months, and we already did a donation, and we felt good, and the future looks bright,\u201d Abdinasir says. \u201cYou can do so many things together. Everyone is very proud of that fundraising. We really feel proud of Camosun, and we feel like Canada is our home now, and we\u2019ll thrive here.\u201d<\/p>\n 6: The Wiggles return to entertain kids, with a new face (October 19, 2022, written by Nicolas Ihmels)<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s impressive that this piece about children\u2019s group The Wiggles\u2019 return to touring hit number six here, as it was published mere weeks before this list was assembled. Although less conceptual than some of the other artists we\u2019ve talked about so far, The Wiggles share the aspiration to help people. Very young people, that is. For this piece, Nexus<\/i>\u2019 Ihmels got to speak to newest Wiggle Tsehay Hawkins.<\/p>\n \u201cI guess The Wiggles\u2019 message has always stayed the same,\u201d she told Ihmels. \u201cThey have just always wanted to inspire children and eat healthily, you know, \u2018Fruit salad, yummy yummy\u2019? I think The Wiggles have stuck to what they believe in and they haven\u2019t changed. They\u2019ve obviously changed over time to fit different audiences, like including me, like diverse representation on screen, but I think The Wiggles have always been about entertaining children and helping them learn and grow. I think that\u2019s why they stayed around for so long,\u201d says Hawkins.<\/p>\n By coming back to Canada for the first time since 2019, The Wiggles were able to entertain audiences of kids and their parents who\u2019ve missed the opportunity to go out to enjoy a concert together. This is an opportunity that\u2019s just as important to its performers now that shows are happening again. Although only a few Camosun students may have read this article with the intent of attending, it provides a beacon of excitement for Camosun\u2019s future performers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI think being part of The Wiggles, I get to do everything: I get to sing, I get to dance, I get to act. But, I\u2019ve also got the best audience of beautiful children who are learning,\u201d said Hawkins. \u201cA lot of the time, when we do our shows, it\u2019s their first-ever live concert. It\u2019s really exciting that I get to be a part of The Wiggles and get to be a part of a lot of children\u2019s introduction to music and live music and performing arts.\u201d<\/p>\n 5: \u201cHedda Gabler<\/i> complex, unexpected, effective\u201d (June 3, 2022, written by Celina Lessard)<\/a><\/p>\n Yet another arts-related piece landed at number five in our list. Director Brian Richmond\u2019s Hedda Gabler<\/i> at the Roxy Theatre\u2014here reviewed by Nexus<\/i>\u2019 Celina Lessard\u2014relates closely to the other arts stories on this list. It\u2019s a story of suffering women re-finding joy in life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHedda Gabler<\/i> takes the ordinarily uneventful and spins it into something more complex. Conversations between the characters often have double meanings, and the motives of each character are not necessarily revealed in obvious statements,\u201d said Lessard in her review. \u201cThe play relies on reading between the lines and the inference of the audience. This style of dialogue can be tricky, as many audiences are unused to such personal deliberation mid-show, but Hedda Gabler<\/i> manages to convey so much more with what isn\u2019t said rather than what is.\u201d<\/p>\n The theme of healing was woven into the performance\u2019s production, and the audience was placed close to the actors, investing the viewer further into the plot. It forced them to connect and personally reflect on the inspiring aspects of re-inventing one\u2019s life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a certain intimacy as the audience acts as the fly on the wall to the unfolding events,\u201d wrote Lessard. \u201cBoth the look and feel of the set illustrate the privacy (or the lack of it) in different scenes between characters, which adds to the metaphor-esque nature of the production.\u201d<\/p>\n 4: The Belfry starts season extremely strong with Intimate Apparel<\/i> (October 3, 2022, written by Jordyn Haukaas)<\/a><\/p>\n Theatre seems to be the most popular form of art on this list, and here it is as the focus of our fourth most-read story of the year, a review of Intimate Apparel<\/i>. This is another piece that was published late in the year, making its placement so high up on the list quite impressive. Maybe it\u2019s the Pulitzer prize-winning playwright involved, or maybe it was that our writer Jordyn Haukaas nailed it with her review.<\/p>\n \u201cSet in 1905, the play follows the unique journey of Esther, an illiterate Black seamstress played by Jenny Brizard,\u201d wrote Haukaas. \u201cWorking day and night, she sews beautiful lingerie for New York\u2019s high-society women. Esther\u2019s anxiety is palpable after her 35th birthday as she has no romantic prospects, leaving her feeling uncertain for the future in a male-dominated society.\u201d<\/p>\n Even though the story told in this play is not set in modern day, the audience can intimately relate to it here in 2022.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIntimate Apparel<\/i> is worth every penny and is not be missed,\u201d wrote Haukaas. \u201cHead down to the Belfry to be transported back in time, where everything may seem a little foreign but the desire to be loved is relatable through the years.\u201d<\/p>\n 3: \u201cStudents react to Camosun College changing fee deadlines\u201d (July 6, 2022, written by Lane Chevrier)<\/a><\/p>\n Students were angry when Camosun changed its fee deadlines earlier this year, so we\u2019re not surprised to see this story was so well-read. Historically, tuition was due after the first week or so of classes; this year, that changed to August 16, weeks before classes start. And students will only get a full refund if they drop a class before it begins.<\/p>\n The college said the change was made to create a more fair playing field for students who\u2019ve ended up on a waitlist. Instead, it\u2019s really just costing Camosun students more in fees, second-year Refrigeration & Air Conditioning Mechanic Foundation apprentice Aaron Hunter said in the article.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m definitely against it,\u201d said Hunter. \u201cI think that it\u2019s just another way to kind of end up spending more money on our education, and we\u2019ve already spent too much.\u201d<\/p>\n Not all of the changes were bad, though. The new policy allows students to withdraw without any consequence to their transcript until the last day of instructional class. So, even though the student\u2019s bank account is going to take a hit, their transcripts won\u2019t, as Camosun registrar Scott Harris pointed out in the story.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything that we\u2019ve been doing is with a student lens, and with students at the centre, even though it may not feel like that at first glance,\u201d he said. \u201cThese are significant changes for Camosun, but the ultimate goals are really around students and their ability to get what they need.\u201d<\/p>\n After pressure from the Camosun College Student Society, the college altered their new policy slightly: if students are able to pay at least 50 percent of their course fee by the deadline, they won\u2019t be auto-removed from the course. This prompted two more opinion pieces in our pages, both saying these changes weren\u2019t enough.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.nexusnewspaper.com\/newsite\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/NEXUS-33-7-COVER-1-194x300.jpg\")
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