My name is Angela Zhai, and I am entering my second year at McGill this fall. I am majoring in International Development with a minor in Computer Science. This summer, I had the opportunity to do an internship with Festival Accès Asie, which ended up being a memorable and meaningful experience.
As someone who has always been fascinated by learning about different cultures and who firmly believes that doing so is essential in creating bridges between communities, Festival Accès Asie immediately caught my eye. Indeed, the chance to celebrate the diverse Asian communities of Montreal through an exploration of various artistic disciplines perfectly encapsulated my interest towards both culture and art. Furthermore, I strongly identify with the values the festival wishes to spread, which include equity, inclusion, hospitality, and solidarity, among others. Founded in 1995, Festival Accès Asie is the oldest Canadian festival celebrating Asian heritage, and it was a pleasure to take part in such a great tradition of cultural sharing.
The internship with the festival was short but fulfilling: the month of May was filled with various artistic events, such as an opening cocktail night, multimedia performances, a documentary screening, traditional music concerts, a literary cabaret, and much more. The constant stream of activities made the whole experience very enjoyable and there was never a dull moment. Tasks I had to accomplish during the events included managing the merchandise table and ticketing, setting up the venues, and greeting festival goers in both French and English.
In the two weeks following the month of events, we settled down in the office and got to some more administrative tasks. I participated in evaluating merchandise inventory, putting together a press report, updating social media pages, and sorting and captioning pictures for the festival’s website. The festival’s team members also collectively shared their thoughts about each of the events in a post-mortem document, which was an interesting exercise that allowed me to reflect about the past month and note down potential elements to improve for the future.
One of the challenges I encountered was the feeling of not being able to contribute as much as I would have liked in the organization of the events. Since the festival started at the same time as my internship, I did not get the chance to participate in the planning process in the weeks before the festival. As such, I often found myself standing around without much to do after completing basic tasks at the start of events, and I wish I could have offered more help during the festival. However, I quickly realized that, despite the periods of downtime, simply showing up and supporting the artists was a huge part of the job. Being able to connect with different art forms and people while having meaningful conversations with both artists and event goers made the experience more than worth it. Furthermore, the post-mortem allowed me to share my thoughts about the festival and the tasks I accomplished, which helped me feel like my opinions were being valued.
While I am not getting academic credits for this internship, the opportunity to work with Festival Accès Asie was an incredible experience that enhanced my interest towards the transmission of culture through art. I am deeply grateful for the monetary support I received through the Arts Undergraduate Improvement Fund, which permitted me to fully immerse myself in my internship.
