Press Release

Aaron Jones (Scugog and Toronto) is an artist, curator, and entrepreneur whose lens-based work confronts the multifaceted nature of Black identity, nationality, culture, belonging, and personal modus operandi. For his residency, Jones will create an interactive art installation and performance, Sky Mirage, featuring an airborne mirror, offering viewers a space in the sky (to see each other) — an ode to self-reflection and the sky’s endless possibilities. Jones will lead large-scale group performances on the shores of Lake Scugog and under Toronto’s Gardiner Expressway at The Bentway. Sky Mirage is an entry point for the participants to get intrigued about floating, inflation and aviation.

Reilly Knowles (London) will present the project Magic Circle for Earth Communion with an exhibition and workshop at Museum London. This large textile is a response to an illustration in The Sixth and Seventh Books of Moses, an influential handbook of magic used by settlers in Waterloo County as late as the 1950s. Knowles explores these folk magic and textile traditions in a “magical” sewing and patterning practice that seeks to reformulate our relationship to land.

Don Kwan (Westmeath, Whitewater Region) will launch a new community event in his adopted hometown of Westmeath in Whitewater Region in the Ottawa Valley. Kwan celebrates diversity and spotlights the visual and performative power of the arts within rural communities. For his residency project, Heartbeat of the Valley, Kwan will gather locals for a community event featuring Success Dragon Lion Dance Troupe, China Doll, Zaneta Pernicova, and Thunderbird Sisters Collective.

Lucia Laford (Waawaaskone Kwe) (Sault Ste Marie) will create a multi-site art installation and host a gathering in the city’s downtown core. Incorporating sculpture and Woodland-style painting, this project titled Dibaajimo. She tells a story. speaks to the process of reclaiming culture, and the Indigenization of city spaces.

Vik Mudge and Skye Rogers (St. Catharines) will work with dancers of all abilities to create community-generated choreography. The project titled Composing Community will feature two public creation workshops and will be followed by a dance showcase at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, Robertson Theatre, St. Catharines.

Yasmeen Nematt Alla (Toronto) will present her residency project on the final weekend of the festival, in an open performance in Toronto. Yasmeen will invite the public to come together in a one-time kite flying event titled Thread that Tangles but doesn’t Knot. Through this community event, in which red kites may fail or soar, Nematt Alla will ask: “What does it mean to be a kite that never takes flight? What does it mean to materialize a kite that will never fly, despite an undeniable abundance of wanting, of reaching, of hoping?” The community event will take place at Woodbine Beach Park.

Camila Salcedo (Toronto) is a Venezuelan-born interdisciplinary artist currently working primarily in textiles, digital art, and community arts. For their residency, Camila presents UPCYCLED: Camila Salcedo & Iconography of the Venezuelan Diaspora. This installation features large-scale self-portraits of the artist wearing upcycled wearable artworks that reflect their Venezuelan pop culture. Salcedo’s portraits are staged in various Toronto neighbourhood locations, including bodegas, parks, and other establishments.

Jennifer Willet (Point Pelee National Park) presents Baroque Biology, her residency project that will unfold as an outdoor art and science fair on Point Pelee. Willet invites attendees to explore the interplay between the laboratory, the creative process, and the ecosystem of the southernmost point of Canada’s mainland. The Community event and science fair encourages locals and visitors to discover something new in this truly unique ecosystem.