About MayWorks Festival of Labour and the Arts
Art is an important tool in shaping ideas, organizing and communicating to world. The life and songs of Woody Guthrie are famous in this regard. Bertolt Brecht the German dramatist summed it up this way: “Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it”.
The Winnipeg MayWorks Festival began in 1994 at the time of the 75th Anniversary of the Winnipeg General Strike. It was an initiative of union and other activists with the aim of exploring the lives of working people, their struggles both past and present and their future aspirations.
Other MayWorks festivals occur in Canada and labour arts festivals exist in many countries. All serve the important role of preserving and developing working class culture. We are proud to say that our MayWorks Festival is part of this effort.
Being Part of MayWorks
Would you like to participate in the MayWorks? Artists, workers as artists or unions can organize an event in MayWorks. Submissions guidelines and forms can be downloaded from our web site: www.mayworks.org at any time. The process of putting the Festival begins in late January each year.
We also ask you to consider supporting the Festival by following us on Facebook, volunteering for MayWorks events and contributing financially to help us build the Festival.
