Dear friends,
Everything in this world has a beginning, middle and end, and in many ways we believe that is what gives life its deep sacred meaning. Today, we’re announcing the disbanding of Pomegranate as a collective, an idea, a “brand” or an “organization.” We want to show gratitude for the amazing times we all shared together through all the events, the workshops, the parties, the dinners, the jams and all the amazing people that were involved along the way.
The truth is, we didn’t “make it”, that is in the eyes of whatever our culture today deems to be “successful” for an organization. Probably as a disappointment to many, we never did become a full-fledged organization, a label, a brand or an institution that extends itself beyond the individual power of its members. Instead, we remained a small group of friends that joined together by a common need: to express freely and to be in community. And in that I believe we succeeded immensely.
Contrary to some people’s beliefs we did not make exuberant amounts of money off-of our operations, with many of us parting with an overall financial loss, not taking into account the time and emotion spent along the way. Many harsh but necessary lessons were learned through-out the experience, but the most valuable one that we wish to share with the rest of the Toronto community is: do not let an idea become more valuable than human life.
No message could be more relevant today in our incessant battle of identities. Flags, nations, teams, movements, collectives are all mere abstractions: symbols, placeholders for ideas, mental tools helping us grapple with an immensely complex reality. However, they do not hold life, we do. So beneath all that difference, we hope you are still able to sense a common shared ground on which we all stand and a common life which we all share.
Looking to the future, Pomegranate will continue to live on the walls of South Bowden street and imbued into the teapots of Bampot which carries on the spirit of creating space for community, art and belonging in this city. We also want to give a shout-out to all the amazing collectives, venues and organization continuing to inspire community in this city. It’s really tough work, thank you for doing what you do.