Photos from the first wave of global conferences in British Columbia

The series of worldwide conferences called for by the Universal House of Justice are aimed at “inspiring action in the assembled well-wishers of humanity.”[i] “The participants–children and grandparents, youth and elders, Bahá’í families generations-strong, and friends newly associated with the community–will explore themes that build understanding of conditions in the world and offer a channel for the longing to serve.” In April and May of this year, 40 of these conferences took place in Canada; the following photos are from the conferences in British Columbia.

Mid Island

Over 120 participants gathered at the Mid Island conference. One participant described the conference: “The day was filled with joy and thoughtful exploration of the content and its implications. Most people left wanting to continue these discussions beyond the space of the conference, and everyone left thinking about how they could best work towards building better communities. There was singing by children and various artistic expressions by all ages.”

Northern Interior 

At the 150 Mile House satellite location of the Prince George conference, participants created arts together to reflect on the theme of creating peacefulness. One participant writes, “We had a wonderful session this afternoon…with all ages using the children’s materials, it was a profound conversation.”

Participants at the Terrace satellite location of the Prince George conference engage in hybrid sessions, watching the Prince George plenary sessions online, and participate in breakout sessions in Terrace.

The Prince George conference location drew participation from the Cariboo-Chilcotin, Central Coast, Central Interior, Cariboo North, Bulkley-Nechako, Kitmat-Stikine, and North Coast regions.

Grand Forks

Leading up to the Grand Forks conference, a local artist created a mural on a “highly visible building in town,” with the words, “Let your vision be world embracing,” from Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.

Leading up to the conference, the Doukhobor community[ii] actively promoted the conference and invited their networks to participate. At the conference, there were 44 participants in the morning sessions, and over 70 participants in the afternoon. Because Grand Forks is in the Boundary cluster, which is comprised of a total of six Bahá’ís, having over 70 participants at their conference surpassed their initial goal for participation. Because of this, two more facilitators, both young Doukhobor women, were trained to meet the needs. ​

One comment from a Doukhobor participant was, “See what four people coming together with a vision can do!”

Vernon

In Vernon, friends participated from North Okanagan, Columbia Shuswap and Upper Columbia. Participants used the arts to reflect on the theme of One Humanity – One World Gathering.

Kamloops (Upper Thompson Nicola)

Participants from Upper Thompson-Nicola contributed both individual and collective art works based on the themes of the conference, which included their collective artwork called the “Tree of Hope.”

During a breakout session, participants reflected on conference themes by writing down their ideas on chart paper.

Participants learned to swing dance (left), and listened to musical performances (right).

The children added their sunflowers to the collective “Tree of Hope” art project.

 

Castlegar (Kootenays – West and East)

Each participant at the Castlegar conference contributed to the collective art project by drawing on pieces of paper, which were later displayed all together on a wall side-by-side.

The collective piece of art that the participants created during the conference.

Victoria (including Gulf Islands and Saanich Peninsula)

The 354 people who participated at the conference came together from Victoria, Gulf Islands and the Saanich Peninsula. Photos taken by Ben Altair, Chris Mock, Jim Flood, and Soheil Mahbobi.

Many individuals were invited to share in the plenary group including a few who are parents from the neighbourhoods where their own children and youth have been engaged in the Institute process in their neighbourhoods.

One participant from the conference in Victoria commented on the experience of attending the conference, saying, “It was exciting to meet new people, make new friends and reconnect with so many wonderful friends. The recent world challenges have had a transforming influence on everyone. I felt that everyone at the conference had a deeper understanding of the importance of community, and they were more accepting of differences. It was nice to feel like I belonged, and that everyone was my family.”

Friends were encouraged prior to the conference to prepare artistic presentations as individuals or groups. There was a song written and performed specifically for the conference, and there were several visual arts contributions from study circles, junior youth, youth and children’s classes. Some friends prepared other musical contributions inspired by the Writings or on the theme of community building.

Coastal Upper Island 

At the Coastal Upper Island conference, all participants contributed to a collective art piece in the form of a tree. Participants wrote on sticky notes and stuck them to the tree’s branches to represent its leaves. This art project was both a visual representation of the concept of the oneness of humanity, as well as an act of oneness where all the participants’ diverse reflections came together.

Surrey-Delta-White Rock and Langley

Participants worked with various art mediums to express their understanding of the conference themes, including creating collages with printed photos, newspaper clippings and magazines.

Vancouver cluster-wide conference

The Vancouver cluster brought together 550 people from seven cities on the weekend of May 14-15, 2022. Photos were taken by Alistair Eagle, Zack Miloff, Bronwyn Proctor, and Neda Shadbakht.

One participant described the environment of the conference, saying that there was “camaraderie and joy, and the feeling of a collective moving forward.”

The Vancouver conference included breakout sessions for Farsi-speaking populations.

Participants of all ages had something to contribute with regards to artistic expressions, which they shared with one another during plenary sessions.

Questions displayed throughout the conference facility, such as: “What attributes do we need to cultivate as individuals for the betterment of the world?” allowed participants to share their reflections through writing on colourful sticky notes and posting them next to the questions on blank black boards.

Guildford neighbourhood

A model of the Guildford neigbourhood’s Youth Cafe was on display at the conference. It was created with cardboard, paper, clay, and other materials.

Junior youth and youth spent time together during their conference break periods.

Some youth presented during the plenary session about the institute process (left). The organizing team helped set up a display that gave a visual representation of the theme of “The Distance Traversed.” A timeline of the history of community building activities in the neighbourhood spanned across a wall; it had both paper signs and photos to show the passage of time.

Commercial Drive neighbourhood

Participants engaged in arts and crafts to reflect on the conference themes

A group of youth also shared the declaration they wrote after studying the text Drawing on the Power of the Word:

This is a declaration of war. We are Nisga, Gitxsan, Tsimshian, Cowichan, Haida, Musqueam, Blackfoot, Squamish and Lil’wat. We are not children, we are youth. We are considering our future. Life is a field filled with suffering, poverty, prejudice, racism, too many not willing to change, and youth aren’t listened to. This is a declaration of war against these things. We want a world where all ideas are listened to, a world with more joy and happiness, where people live in harmony with nature. We want a world where we recognize each other’s gifts. Where we get rid of ridicule and mocking.

We are launching a war against hate. To battle we will use the weapons of love, the power of the Word, and our actions. Actions speak louder than words. Our war first launches in our neighbourhood. To build a new world we start here. We need others to have access to the inspirational quotes we read. Our schools need to be beautified. We need less drugs and alcohol. Our buildings cannot be treated like public toilets. We are doing service projects to help address the issues of homelessness, the environment and the needs of children. We are doing youth camps, children’s classes and junior youth groups so that we can purge negativity from our lives. This is our declaration.

Richmond 

Youth in the Richmond conference present on the junior youth spiritual empowerment program during a plenary session.

 

[i] National Spiritual Assembly, 23 March 2022.
[ii] The Doukhobors are a pacifist Christian group with origins in Russia.