SECRETS FOUND

DAWN ALLARD

FIBRE ARTS

Living in Northern Ontario communities, we reap the benefits of nature and beauty, but can also suffer from isolation and become stagnant in our practices. Having been paired with Betty Carpick, brought to light how meaningful lateral thinking can be and encouraged me to explore more advanced felting techniques. This piece, being two-sided, shows one of my traditional landscapes and the other where my exploration took me. The landscape being the beauty that you see; the other, the deeper thoughts behind it. Using new felting techniques, cracked mud and shibori, this piece symbolizes the water flowing beneath the surface to nourish life. This project was a wonderful reminder to never stop learning. Art is truly a journey of discovery through techniques and individuality. Collaboration, in any degree, can help spark, inspire and rejuvenate your creative soul.

Anchorage

FIBRE ARTS

Betty Carpick

The artwork initially began as a way to consider people and human relationships through the metaphor of roots, soil, and new growth. With the Tk'emlups te Secwepemc First Nation discovery, I was compelled to see the exploration in a starker and more nuanced light. The Medicine Wheel provides a way to think about the stages and aspects of life, the seasons, elements of nature, and healing. To replicate the essence of nature and home, the layers carry the faint scent of the plants from the inks. Each layer is stitched with the colours of the Four Directions of the Medicine Wheel. The red, white, yellow, and black threads all carry tiny single knots. The suspension of the work is about the feeling of sadness, heaviness, and fragility within the vastness of the universe.

Compassion Inaction?

POETRY

Roberta Della Pica

This poem emanates from my Heart, Soul and Spirit, from a viewpoint of an abhorrence of "missionary work". I have huge issues with a particular global institution that has a history for over two millennia of only providing succour and the basic necessities of life to recipients who agree to be "converted". In my not humble opinion, this colonizing methodology is arrogant, demeaning, racist and outrageous. Convincing itself that it is extending acts of kindness, when it is, in reality, perpetrating an agenda of conquering, vanquishment, indoctrination and assimilation, is, I propose, a true form of evil.

I'll Keep While You're Away

Song

Binaeshee-Quae Couchie-Nabigon

This project work came soon after my family’s annual Spring Fast and in the middle of my Aunt Carols passing.

The photo offering is of her smudge bowl with some sage lit. It is a visual representation of the gifts she continues to give in spirit. Her bundle is still with us and will continue to share her gifts and love.

On my Moms side we take a week in spring to be on the land to “fast our bodies so we can feast our spirit”(-Gramma Eva). We take turns as faster or helper/conductor because both roles are important and healing.

There is only the commitment and compassion from both the faster and conductor to put in the work and care for each others sake.

This year has been hard. There is so much hurt to sift through on a daily basis. To be given time to look at some of it, process it, and recognize the support around you is a very special gift. I believe the spring fast, my Aunts end of life ceremonies as well as this project graciously gave that time and I am thankful for it.

The title of the song "I'll Keep While You're Away" comes from the Anishinaabemowin phrase (taught to me by my Granny Thelma)

"Gan wein daas ma ja yeain" which means I'll take care of it for you while you are away. The "away" part for me means many things. I imagine it includes death, addictions, depression or it could be when someone is away taking care of themself-fasting or in ceremony... It is a commitment to look after one another with love.

I created this song to sing at a fast, an end of life ceremony or to a friend during a difficult time. I wrote this song with the intention of offering comfort.

Good Naturedly

FIBRE ARTS

Mireille Gagnon Moes

How I linked the values of “social goodness” and a collaborative exchange into a visual analogy:

#1: The underside or unseen part. The root of our being, where brain neurones sparkle in networks of growth & renewal.

#2: The topside or observable side. Where being becomes reality. To express social goodness in communities and bridge cultural values, used the timeless universal language of symbols and icons. From my collaboration with Tuija Hansen, I included the symbol of a hot beverage (tea/coffee). We both agreed that sharing a hot beverage often contributes to positivity and a constructive exchange of ideas and goodness.

Finally, the semi opened flower represents hope, beauty and untapped potential.

Dyeing With Grounds (for Goodness)

FIBRE ARTS

Tuija Hansen

This work physically and conceptually ties together the grounds for goodness concepts by paying special attention to the teas and coffees we share when gathering. Using coffee grounds and various tea varieties to solar-dye fabric, yarn, and threads, I’ve stitched together a work of many parts, in the same way our “Zoom” rooms are composed of many individuals: our “squares” side-by-side on our screen. The Art of Community brought together inspiring individuals in 3 different cohorts this winter. I enjoyed the time listening to and learning with each other during a time of isolation for many. The gratitude I feel for learning from and spending time with others during these sessions, extends to the reunion commission as well. In this way, Jumblies’ continues to do what it does best: connecting individuals to each other in near and far places! My collaborative partner and I enjoyed conversation that certainly sparked joy, excitement, and awe in myself, and a new friendship which I look forward to nurturing.

The how-to video for this project allows you to follow along and dye natural fibres at home using scrap fabrics, coffee grounds and tea leaves! You can find it here: https://vimeo.com/559800539

KIN

MUSIC LYRICS

Sarah Gartshore

This project has evolved since the uncovering of the 215 children that were murdered by the church and state of Canada. At the beginning of this process, when I conversed with Kitsune Soleil about what the visions for our projects were, we both spoke to centering Kin, to connection, to how Ruth and the Jumblies family felt like our family. I’ve thought of Kitsune and her project, which involved speaking to family members who attended Residential Schools/prisons, and how difficult that would be at the best of times. And how difficult working during this time is. I am sending her and all of the Indigenous artists so much love. I can only speak for myself, but the feeling of needing to share the Truth coupled with the pain of that Truth can be debilitating. We lean on each other. We love each other so hard that it reverberates in our work. I am grateful to Kitsune Soleil, Jumblies Theatre and the beautiful artists I worked with for this project. The circles of care that Ruth Howard and the Jumblies family create for artists like myself are healing. Miigwetch.

Trudy Jones’s song is called It’s All Right Now. It is about how we, Kin, hold each other up as Trudy does for me. As I try to do for her. Trudy Jones is a gift to all who know her. Her voice is gorgeous, kind and magical. It feels like home. The gift of her example, of how she lives her life by centering her babies and family with all the fierceness and protection of a sacred fire is breathtaking. I think you will feel that.

Noah Blackburn’s song is called Kin Time Travellin. This song was an outlet for overwhelming feelings of grief at the uncovering of a crime scene. Two hundred and fifteen babies stolen from their Kin. The Survivors deserve nothing less than to be wrapped in blankets of care with all of our ears turned towards their wisdom. Noah Blackburn, Gwiss, is my second born son. He is brilliant and kind. He understands and honours the value of Kin in his life.

Resilient Seeds

VIDEO

Kitsuné Soleil

As seeds, we are planted. Some of us get the chance to grow and survive our circumstances. Resilient Seeds is an informal chat in poetic form. Kitsuné talks with her birth and biological Mother, Ivy, about resiliency and pain. Ivy is a Residential School survivor, and Kitsuné is her daughter who was adopted and brought up with a white family, unconnected from culture and roots. The words exchanged never got the chance to be said until now.

Weaving Memories of Love

MIXED MEDIA

ARLETTE NGUNG & SHERRY GUPPY

My collaboration with Sherry itself turned out to be Grounds for goodness where we had to show Understanding and Compassion towards each other, weaving memories of love and care. My project was made with materials from my daily life such as Starbucks recycled packaging, but also raffia, a sustainable natural fibre from the Congo which represents my country of origin. The use of Starbucks packaging and the raffia fibre represents to me fair trade and also opportunities for caring for the environment and supporting artisans. Sustainable to me represents random acts of love and kindness through words and actions. Love liberates, adding a few words from Maya Angelou was befitting to the all artwork.

Fun Facts:

Starbucks is known for selling coffee from Ethiopia my birth country a country where Coffee grown worldwide can trace its heritage back centuries to the ancient coffee forests on the Ethiopian plateau. The original domesticated coffee plant is said to have been from Harar, and the native population is thought to be derived from Ethiopia with distinct nearby populations in Sudan and Kenya. Coffee was primarily consumed in the Islamic world where it originated and was directly related to religious practices.

Using Raffia a biodegradable fibre help preserving traditional craftsmanship, empowering female artisans and supporting them by commercializing their crafts

Mistrust

MIXED MEDIA & VIDEO

JULIA TRIBE & MEG LOZICKI PAULIN

This collaborative piece houses a difficult conversation that began with the sharing of an offering. By responding to one another’s work, the notions of mistrust and trust were explored through visual, auditory, and oral exploration while keeping in mind Jumblies’ Ground for Goodness themes. The resulting installation or bundle allows the viewer to witness, translate, and, in phase 2, participate, in the conversation, through visual projections and sound, compiled from the making process itself, and by the land where the work has been brought to life. As both an Indigenous and European person, I (Meg) attempt to decipher how I know what it means to be good. Who or what has taught me goodness? Is it in the stories I hear? Does it lie in the voices of my parents, my Elders? Can I hear goodness from my relationships with the land and the water, from the seen and unseen worlds, from my ancestors, or from my children? Finally, how do I accept that these value systems are not necessarily transferrable to other individuals during a time when messaging is being fed to the masses and resulting in mistrust of the land, the water, and one another. As an artist engaged in creative inquiry, I (Julia) attempt to unwrap the notion of mistrust and trust embedded in difficult conversations. Giving it shape and form by asking: What do I carry in and wear out? and examining “mistrust” through my assumptions and fears, hidden and exposed, and what I need to discard or keep when creating new and meaningful conversations. Through this collaborative process, I am able to wade into toxic waters, and call out my unintentional and unconscious acts, owning their part in the personal and epic histories of colonialized deception. My imperfect self: a heart tangled in words, offers a willingness to play together, and turn mistrust into trust through this art of kindness.

part in the personal and epic of colonialized deception. My imperfect self: a heart tangled in words, offering a willingness to play together, and turn mistrust into trust through this art of kindness.