GEIST: Art and Culture

Something so inspiring and original, a magazine that focuses on real issues but translates them like no other outlet. Founded in 1990, Geist magazine is published four times a year by The Geist Foundation. Each issue of Geist is a collection of ideas that express art and culture, bringing together different selections of writings and expressions including; fact + fiction, photography and comix, poetry, essays, and reviews.

This Canadian magazine has many different forms of expression that can be used to inform others on topics that are important to the world of arts and culture. Geist says, “we hold an intelligent, plain-talking, inclusive, off-beat tone.” They also explain that at the heart of their enterprise is the imaginary country that some of us inhabit from time to time, and which often has something to do with Canada.

This is important to consider when thinking about Geist because this ‘imaginary country’ illustrates the arts and culture that influence our lives.

Geist is a word that defines the spirit of an individual or group. The magazine is a representation of Canada’s Geist as a whole. Our Geist is based on how our culture and arts affect our spirits and make us connect and collaborate.

On Wednesday September 27th, AnnMarie MacKinnon the Associate Publisher of Geist Magazine chatted with us via video chat during our Journalism Fundamentals course in the Global Class. Talking to MacKinnon about what journalism is to her and what her job is at the magazine impacted me in a way that I didn’t expect. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do after college and after the video chat ended, I realized that what I would really love to do is work with an art and culture magazine, like Geist and create content for it. I think that the world of art and culture is so full of self-expression in many different ways, it is completely liberating.

Geist, and magazines like it, are a great way for expression to bleed into society. Magazines like Geist create a great impact on society, and they use our ideas and culture to create a beautiful display of our daily lives. These are outlets that recognize our society and we must continue to support them because they inspire and impact us through expression and mirroring our lives to show us the beauty in which we live in.