Deafness seems to be the best word to describe how society feels about newcomers to Canada.

It has been a year since these columns on newcomers and multicultural issues started. Some opinions have been expressed, yet for the most part it appears as though people would rather avoid these matters altogether.

On Dec. 4, Statistics Canada will reveal the results of the 2006 Census in regards to “Language Mobility & Migration, Immigration and Citizenship”, but it won’t be until April 2, that it will release information on “Ethnic Origin and Visible Minorities.”

That information will be crucial not only because for the first time we will know exactly what dimension of immigration we are looking at in Barrie and Simcoe County, but also because it will give authorities a heads-up on programs to prevent conflict among different racial, religious, linguistic and ethnocultural groups that are growing fast in this area.

And this is where interculturalism once again becomes a key word.

Although it is by definition considered “the philosophy of exchanges between cultural groups within a society” and it “requires an inherent openness to be exposed to the culture of the other,” it can express itself through different avenues. One of them is art, which allows individuals to showcase their particularities through the expression of colours.

Carmen Ormazabal from Chile, and Elvira Lusa-Dzumhur from Croatia, have done this in a rather intuitive way. They began sharing experiences in a dialogue that slowly revealed details of each other´s cultures. Today, this expression has been emerged in Mixing Colours, art work that will be showcased starting Sunday, Nov. 11, at 1 p.m. at downtown´s Barrie Art Club.

These artists have many things in common, starting by being both immigrants who had to postpone their creativity for many years. It was in Barrie where they finally found the tranquility, “the peace of mind and soul” to dedicate themselves.

However, they realize that aside from the Barrie Art Club, the city does not offer beginners or unknown artists many alternatives to expose and promote their work.

Perhaps the growing immigration statistics that will soon be revealed will motivate the city and authorities to fund programs that through the different expressions of arts, may allow interculturalism to become a tool to bring the community together against all forms of discrimination.

• You can reach Mirna Concha at mirna.concha@theheritagenetwork.ca.