Living Culture serves as two things, a medium for an Oshawa cultural revival and a response of hope and awareness in the face of the darker side of humanity.
“There’s a lot going on around the world right now,” said group founder Yumna Sawnya. “Arab Spring, the Occupy movement, civil wars and a major outcry against uncivil and inhumane war crimes by nation leaders.” Sawnya believes artists can use their work to raise awareness and amplify a voice disapproving of injustice.
The group also believes in having fun and connecting artists. Though the group places an emphasis on poetry and the spoken word, it also serves as a network group for visual artists, writers, musicians and poets to connect and share their talents.
"Living Culture is shedding light on the sub-culture of indie music, art and spoken-word poets of our generation. Our youth is being presented with a world that is currently experiencing some hard issues; it's times like these that creativity is sparked, and the individual is inspired to create something beautiful. We want to hear your words, we want the sounds of strings resonating through the city, and we want to feast our eyes on your art. This is a cultural revolution," writes Living Culture on their Facebook page.
Shows are performed at Cocoa and Joe located at 44 Simcoe Street in downtown Oshawa. Cocoa and Joe is unique compared to other downtown Oshawa cafes as it now has a liquor licence.
On January 12, Living Culture presented an “acoustic and poetry showcase.”
The cafe provided a cozy atmosphere for guests of all ages; from the three-year-old arriving with her grandfather, to the teens, twenty-somethings and every age in between.
Music skipped through the air to people's tapping feet, thanks to local bands The Cane Toads, Elephant Shoes, Bird Boys, Sarah Crookal and Hopeless Romantic, Yumna Sawnya and Midian Judah, Darling Meadow, Kate Kelly and How Sutherland and the Tangerine Dream, all performed at the cafe.
Poets like Brock Mundy, Sarah Crookal and Sawnya herself performed.
Living Culture started with Sawnya and fellow creative enthusiast Kyle Thompson. The group has three new members and puts on regular shows.
“We’ve come a long way since the summer!”, says Yumna Sawnya.
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