Interfaith Harmony Halifax showcases city’s culture, diversity

Crystal Garrett chats with the co-chairs of the upcoming Interfaith Harmony Halifax celebration, celebrating diverse spiritual communities.

International Interfaith Harmony Week is an opportunity to experience and learn more about diverse spiritual communities and faiths you may not know about.

It takes place each year during the first week of February and offers several events in Halifax for the public to enjoy.

World Interfaith Harmony Week started in 2010, while Interfaith Harmony Halifax began three years later.

Joanna Mirsky Wexler, co-chair of Interfaith Harmony Halifax, says this year’s theme is “Joining hands in turbulent times.”

“It’s really to send a message maybe to all of our hearts that this week is not about choosing sides, or bringing in politics, or whatever might divide us,” she said during an interview on CTV Atlantic’s morning show.

“But it’s really about finding each other. And joining hands is physical and it’s metaphoric. It’s a metaphor for how we can approach and find each other in this space, and we can celebrate the diversity and our similarities at the same time.”

This year’s event is taking place at the Halifax Central Library on Saturday, where guests will celebrate the city’s spiritual diversity of music, dance, reading and art.

“This is a platform where 10 faith groups will be performing and all of them will demonstrate their culture, their art, their music. There are a number of presentations that are open to all the public and there are some that the public can also engage in,” said Rachana Samtaney, co-chair of Interfaith Harmony Halifax.

Mirsky Wexler says she hopes the experience will teach guests to come together, adding that’s what the whole week is about.

“So, there’s a few ways to deepen the experience. My favourite way to participate is when you can go into different people’s sacred spaces, so that’s one major way to participate. Where you get to learn, and experience and ask questions and have them be answered,” she said.

“Or you can engage with some of the more participatory activities. So, we’re doing a faith and climate change piece with Ecology Action Centre, or an art presentation where we all are working on interfaith images, or a sound bath where we meditate and then talk about faith and music. So, it’s really a way for us to engage in a real way about wonderful things about our lives that we should share.”

Mirsky Wexler says Interfaith Harmony Halifax is not only for people who would identify as observant, religious or practising – it’s for everyone.

“I think when you engage, when you have a way to have a conversation with somebody and really openheartedly want to learn about somebody else, this is a moment where we make the world a little bit better just in that moment of engagement,” said Mirsky Wexler.

Interfaith Harmony Halifax is from Feb. 1 to 9.

Details on the week can be found on its Facebook page.

For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page