OFFERING AND RECEIVING

DO YOU HAVE A TALENT TO SHARE? OR ARE YOU SEEKING THE WISDOM OR TALENT OF SOMEONE ELSE?

A gift is something you offer of yourself. It might be creative sharing, nourishing knowledge or technical expertise. You may decide to offer a personal service like lawn mowing, bicycle repair, or preparing someone’s taxes. Or, your exchange might give you knowledge on how to grow a vegetable in your neighbourhood, or a language lesson, or an hour of storytelling.

Sharing knowledge is an act of great cultural and community value. Instead of receiving money for your offering, you’ll be asked to describe an experience that makes this offering important to you.

Your offering will be recognized with an Exchange Token that you can use to receive someone else’s offering. Or you can pay it forward by giving it to someone else.

There are four simple steps to offer an exchange:

Image © Anna Guan, 2019.

  • Imagine someone that you don’t yet know. A fellow Treaty 7 resident or someone outside of your circle of acquaintances.

  • Identify a skill or talent that you are most proud of. What makes this talent important to you?

  • Classify this offering: is it creative, nourishing or technical in your view?

  • Create a short narrative behind this offering: What barriers or challenges did you have to overcome in order to learn this? Was there someone who mentored you in developing this skill or talent? Who was this person? How did the experience impact you? Did you stay in touch with this “teacher”? How has this offering changed since you first developed it?

If you’re still not sure what to offer, read some Gift Examples here or check out our existing Gifts on the Go.

tO RECEIVE

Receive the gift of imagination, wisdom, or creativity! Simply fill in the form, noting the gift you wish to receive.

TO GIVE

Give the gift of your imagination, wisdom, or creativity! Simply fill in the form, noting the gift you wish you give.

The Exchange is a non-monetary interaction between the people of Treaty 7. It is co-created through a collaboration with the Calgary Public Library, Momentum and d.talks. We are grateful for the support of Calgary Arts Development Recovery Grant as well as the ongoing support of Alberta Foundation for the Arts making The Exchange possible.