HALIFAX – Walking Gottingen is an immersive sound walk that uses storytelling, natural sound, and diverse voices to transport listeners through a portal of lived experiences in the neighbourhood. Listeners will hear moving, intimate descriptions of an area that has been the home of African Nova Scotians, members of the LGBTQ2+ community and the Mi’kmaq First Nations community.
Listeners will be guided to certain landmarks and institutions as they walk down Gottingen Street in North End Halifax, all the while hearing the voices of the people who truly made the neighbourhood what it is today. But the neighbourhood is changing.
Walking Gottingen aims to preserve the community’s legacy in its current incarnation as it confronts gentrification and displacement. It will educate residents, old and new, of the street’s profound history while challenging anti-black racism, xenophobia and postcolonial sentiments in the same stride.
Walking Gottingen will launch online on the official website of the 2020 Mayworks Festival and will be downloadable as of May 29, 2020. The sound walk will also be hosted on the Halifax Public Libraries’ website. Participants may borrow MP3 devices through the North Memorial Public Library. We will also have transcripts available once the North Branch Library re-opens. Make sure you have your library card!
Feel free to share your experience with us on Twitter (@walk_gottingen) and Facebook (@WalkingGottingen) using #WalkingGottingen. For inquiries, email walkinggottingen@gmail.com.
We would like to thank the Mayworks organizers for allowing us to tell this story as part of their festival. This project is also in partnership with the North End Community Health Centre and Halifax Public Libraries. It is funded by the Inspirit Foundation and the Halifax Community Investment Fund.
NOTE: If public health measures do not allow you to visit Gottingen Street at the moment, please make plans for a later date. This project will remain publicly accessible through the Halifax Public Libraries.
MEET THE TEAM
Walking Gottingen is a passion project of Jayde Tynes, Francella Fiallos and Sarah Poko.
● Jayde Tynes:
African Nova Scotian and Indigenous storyteller, Jayde Tynes, is currently in her second season as producer’s assistant with CBC’s Diggstown. She is mentoring under showrunner/creator Floyd Kane and Diggstown/Seed/Trailer Park Boys Executive Producer Karen Wentzell. Her career in media began as the Diversity and Outreach Programming Coordinator with CKDU 88.1FM in Halifax. Upon completing her second bachelor’s degree in Journalism she joined CBC Nova Scotia as a reporter and associate producer. Her passion for traditional oral storytelling has spawned from her African and Indigenous roots. In 2017, she launched an independent podcast titled My Blackness, My Truth (on iTunes & Google Play) where she is both producer and host.
Her work has been featured on Common Dreams, Star Metro Halifax, Diagnol, The Coast, Popular Resistance, Information Morning N.S. and CBC Online.
● Francella Fiallos:
Francella is the station manager at CJLO 1690 AM in Montreal. She was previously the programming and development director at CKDU, Dalhousie University’s campus radio station.
She has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of King’s College and a bachelor of journalism degree from Carleton University in Ottawa. She has received training in audio storytelling from the Association of Independents in Radio and the Centre for Documentary Studies at Duke University. Her work has been featured on CBC Radio, Examineradio, The Coast, and rabble.ca. She is a Polaris Music Prize juror.
● Sarah Poko:
Sarah is a Team Editor at the Chronicle Herald in Halifax. Originally from Nigeria, Sarah’s travels have inspired her to tell the stories of people who have surmounted incredible odds and endured extraordinary hardships. She does this through writing, videography and other forms of content creation.
She has worked with several publications and organizations, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), CBC Halifax, The Coast, Polestar News, and the Africentric Learning Institute. Sarah has a master’s degree in journalism from the University of King’s College and a bachelor of arts in communications and journalism from Monash South Africa in Johannesburg.
