RED LAKE -- Red Lake youth are sharing their culture through colours.
A film crew from Lopii Productions stopped in Red Lake on Sept.10 to 12 to shoot an episode of the French television show Couleur du Nord.
The episode will air on the Television francophone Ontario in the fall of 2023.
The show features Mique Michelle, who is a Metis artist that is hosting the show. Michelle is a renowned graffiti artist. Her work can be seen in galleries, public buildings, and in various outdoor venues. She has worked and collaborated on many community art initiatives with Francophone kids. In each episode she goes around to a different community in Ontario and paints a mural reflecting on the areas culture.
The show selects four children from the Francophone community to paint with her and be featured as hosts on the show. Day 2, was open to a few more kids to appear as guest stars.
Day 1 of filming opened with Mique and the kids meeting at Norseman Park to discuss Red Lake and its culture, to inspire the mural’s design.
In between painting, the kids got to take go pro cameras around town and showcase some of their favourite places. They also filmed segments at the Red Lake Indian Friendship Centre, the Red Lake Regional Heritage Centre and the Lakeview Restaurant. They shot interviews with Angela Sinclair, Tom Doherty and Agathe Breton-Plouffe.
“The mural represents the different colours of the different cultures,” says Agathe, “They also integrated the legend of the moose and how Red Lake got its name.”
This was a partnership between the RLIFC and the Francophone Association. The youth hub is a newly opened centre operated by the RLFC and was created with many community partners. The RLIFC, and in particular Monique Tougas, who operates the youth hub, had been looking for an opportunity to create an artistic piece to adorn the walls that would reflect the town as well as spotlight the kids.
“That’s the vision that Monique had, she wanted the kids to paint their own space,” Says Agathe, “It’s nice to show the kids French activities that are fun and cool.”
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