Hannah Mariko Bell

Hannah is a proud fourth generation Japanese Canadian raised on Treaty 7 Territory within Blackfoot Confederacy lands (Calgary, Alberta). She is a neurodivergent artist and a member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community who identifies as pansexual. These identities, as well as her Japanese Canadian heritage, inform her artistic practice and place equity and accessibility at the centre. Through her work, Hannah seeks to engage audiences with positive representations of Japanese culture, as well as challenge them through a variety of theatrical practices.

Hannah is a director, creator, and puppeteer, as well as a graduate of UVic’s Theatre program (2019); she directed her first devised play, Kansha, as part of Intrepid Theatre’s YOU Show (2018) with support from the Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society and the National Association of Japanese Canadians Young Leader Fund. Hannah is committed to helping improve representation for underrepresented communities in Victoria.

I’d like to pay tribute to one of the best mentors I could have ever asked for: Claire Sakaki. Claire is a kind and generous leader and she was a tremendous support to me when I was feeling lost and stuck in a very difficult situation. To be privileged to get mentored by someone in the Japanese-Canadian community is one thing but to have someone who gave me the space to be my authentic self and learn/grow to be a leader in my community is tremendous. I am grateful that we met at PACT in 2023 and that she has given me the confidence to be a leader for the Japanese-Canadian community in Victoria and represent the community with authentic storytelling.