Let's Talk About... Wanderlust

A Reflection

By jacky feng

The “Let’s Talk About… Wanderlust” event at Contemporary Calgary on June 18, 2024, ignited a vibrant exploration into the intersection of art, community, and identity. Anchored by the theme of “placemaking,” the evening unfolded with reflective panels, immersive installations, and insightful discussions exploring how public art and design contribute to creating places rather than mere city spaces.

Guests stepped onto Clark Thenhaus’s Contemporary Confetti at the front plaza of Contemporary Calgary, setting the stage for stimulating discussions. Interactive pop-up activities highlighted the power of art, including a DIY tote decorating table where participants could create their own Contemporary Confetti with stencils and fabric markers.

Photo by Vikram Johal of Design Calgary

BEFORE: Photo by Vikram Johal of Design Calgary

AFTER: Photo by Vikram Johal of Design Calgary

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Clark Thenhaus, the artist and architect of Endemic Architecture behind Contemporary Confetti, delved into the transformative power of art and space, advocating for engaging, interactive urban environments. His insights on “wallflower urbanism” highlighted the potential of art, like his urban confetti pop-up paint series, to activate and redefine public spaces. More importantly, he underscored how art fosters community engagement and dialogue, making everyone feel connected and part of a larger narrative.

Clark Thenhaus: photo by Allison Seto

Indigenous artist Jared Tailfeathers took the stage and emphasized the transformative power of art in reshaping community narratives. He highlighted the importance of having a sense of wanderlust, which allows us to go beyond the city’s surface, uncovering and sharing its hidden voices. Tailfeathers also emphasized the impact of art and storytelling in placemaking through his involvement in projects such as the Central Library’s permanent Indigenous art installation.

Jared Tailfeathers: photo by Allison Seto

The central portion of the event was a speaker panel moderated by Latosia Campbell-Walters. She facilitated a dynamic discussion on the role of public art in building community and creating wanderlust.

Panelists Caitlind R.C Brown and Wayne Garrett, a public art artist-duo, illuminated their artistic process, emphasizing community collaboration and the creation of meaningful, site-specific installations. They spoke about how Calgary is a city hungry for art and how art becomes a shortcut to creating meaningful places that generate memories.

Latosia Campbell-Walters: photo by Allison Seto

Caitlin RC Brown and Wayne Garrett: photo by Allison Seto

Former City Councillor Druh Farrell underscored the importance of beauty and belonging in urban design. Her advocacy for creating aesthetically pleasing, inclusive spaces was a powerful affirmation of the city’s commitment to enhancing civic identity. Her words made the audience feel valued and considered in the city’s design, fostering a sense of belonging and pride.

Lastly, Jessa Morrison from Brookfield highlighted the intersection of art, transit, and community experience. She articulated the role of art in enriching urban environments and fostering community cohesion, showcasing how thoughtful programming enhances tenant retention and community engagement.

Druh Farrell: photo by Allison Seto

Jessa Morrison: photo by Allison Seto

The “Let’s Talk About… Wanderlust” event was a testament to Calgary’s vibrant cultural landscape and its commitment to art as a catalyst for community connection. As we navigate the evolving urban fabric, art installations like Contemporary Confetti remind us of art’s transformative power in shaping our collective identity and fostering a sense of place. 

Through art and dialogue, the notion of wanderlust continues to inspire us to reimagine our urban spaces, honoring diversity and amplifying voices that enrich our shared experience. Druh Farrell’s words resonate: “Let us create a sense of belonging in our city, a place that makes people want to stay and write songs about.”

Shannon Lanigan, Co-Founder and Managing Director of d.talks: photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Photo by Allison Seto

Shannon Lanigan, Co-Founder and Managing Director of d.talks: photo by Allison Seto

Let's Talk About... Home

Echoes of Home

A Journey Through Identity and Resilience

By: Floyd Black Horse

"I often refer to myself as a museum," remarked Lily Wells, a student at the University of Lethbridge enrolled in Museum Studies courses. Ms. Wells shared her poignant reflections during the Design Talks (d.talks) Institute's land acknowledgment, shedding light on her journey from Indian Residential School to urban life as a Blackfoot woman.

On April 11, the theme "Home" took center stage at Contemporary Calgary as d.talks delved into the profound question: What makes a place feel like home? An evening featuring presentations and panel discussions with artists, critics, urban planners, and co-founders, explored the multifaceted dimensions of 'home.'

photo credit: Jesus Martin Ruiz

From the global perspective of affordability challenges to the housing crisis in Canadian cities, panelists offered insights into innovative design solutions. The conversation, like a pendulum, swung between moments of sorrow and joy, highlighting the complexities of the concept of home.

photo credit: Jesus Martin Ruiz

For some, home evokes memories of warmth and familial gatherings, while for others, it symbolizes a battleground of identity and acceptance.

In my recollections, home was a realm of sanctuary and laughter. Growing up in the Northeast community of Martin-dale in Calgary, Alberta, our expansive six-bedroom house stood adjacent to the community's Dashmesh Culture Centre and sprawling prairie lands, offering boundless adventures for my childhood companions and me.

Yet, beneath the façade of idyllic childhood memories lay the harsh realities of prejudice and stereotype. In a society where mainstream culture often ridiculed Indigenous traditions and values, embracing my heritage meant facing ostracization and mockery.

Despite the popularity of gangster rap culture prevalent among my peers, my true passions lay in the arts and storytelling. Hidden behind a veneer of conformity, I navigated the tumultuous waters of adolescence, grappling with my burgeoning sexuality and the pressures of societal expectations.

The transition from the familiarity of home to the unknown terrain of adulthood marked the beginning of my journey. Leaving behind the safety net of Calgary, I embarked on a transformative odyssey that led me to the gritty streets of Winnipeg, Manitoba.

Amidst personal losses and battles with addiction, I found solace in the vibrant tapestry of artistic expression that enveloped me. Embracing sobriety, I stepped into the spotlight of my narrative, reclaiming my identity and forging new paths of self-discovery.

As I reflect on my journey, I realize that home transcends physical spaces; it is a sanctuary within ourselves, a testament to resilience and the enduring spirit of survival. Despite the challenges and hardships along the way, I stand as a testament to the indomitable human spirit, a testament to the resilience of Indigenous peoples in the face of adversity.

D. Talks' Home event served as a poignant reminder of the ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous communities in the wake of settler colonialism. As we strive for reconciliation and healing, we must recognize the resilience and strength of Indigenous voices, amplifying their stories and honoring their enduring presence on this land.

In the words of Lily Wells, "We're still here." Amidst the currents of change and upheaval, Indigenous peoples persist, their voices resonating through the annals of history, a testament to the enduring legacy of home.

Lobbyfest x d.talks

written by Jared Tailfeathers

Hidden away in wandering and meandering corridors are gems of intrigue and astonishment. A collection of art, greenery, collaboration and architecture moments that never get talked about outside of these walls.  Halls of fluctuating people, minding their business, with various goals and timings, hold a series of happenings of the micro-presentations of life in the inner city. Whether on the way to a meeting, to a lunch, to hide for a break or sneak into a store for a purchase or to  peruse the selection of chocolates in a corner shop, we forget that the Plus 15 (+15) and the linking Lobbies are often neglected in their importance in the life of downtown Calgary. Did you know that the +15 system in Calgary is the largest of its sort in North America? 18 kilometers of interlocking cubed tubes that spider-web across downtown Calgary. 

Map of Calgary’s 15 system. Created by Migration Design and Mark Cooper

Lobbyfest noticed the absence of engagement in these spaces, so they built a platform for disparate groups of creatives to design pop-ups in the +15 and lobbies to encourage the normally busy passersby to stop and take a breath as they learned something and participated in a game or activity that highlighted a feature or their own ideas about these underutilized locations. 

Design Talks, like many others, created an interactive pop-up. Through Lobbyfest’s three-day event (September 13-15, 2023) Design Talks had a standing interactive installation at the Bow Valley Square +15 where passers-by were invited to answer a few questions about their ideas of “Daily Ritual”, especially in the post-COVID landscape and how they would like to see change and growth in the use of lobby and +15 spaces. The installation held other activities that poked at the ideas of lobby use, what routes did the regular +15 users take, and what ideas about location use could be explored. There was also an encouragement of mentioning and locating places of note along the +15 system, like art, architecture, places of contemplation and congregation.

Photo: Jesus Martin Ruiz

Along the lines of challenging the idea of lobby and +15 use; day one of the Fest was a Design Talk “Spaces, Places and Community Traces” a public panel with local filmmakers, artists and critics of the inner city use of public spaces and their perspectives of proper use and this idea of “public” space. We engaged Gary Burns (“Waydowntown” and “Radiant City”) and Kelli Morning Bull (“Treaty Money” and Calgary Public Library Indigenous Design Lead) to weigh in on these perspectives and accompanying issues. This was done in the Bow Valley Square +15 space that caught the ear of people walking by as well as registered attendees. 

Photo: Jesus Martin Ruiz

dTalks publication “FOLD” had been working on a months-long project of auditory episodes for a podcast called “Rituals”. What do people of varying ages, communities and cultures do on a daily habit, ritual or personal ceremony that they wanted to explore and share. So, in the pop-up a booth was set up for passersby to interact and listen to those podcast episodes, they were also encouraged to post on the walls of the pop-up their own ideas of ritual, from the simple to the complex. This also tied into a live recording at the installation on day two of the fest with a creative journalist Floyd Black Horse, who hails from the strong Siksika Nation nearby visiting his nation’s ancestral home in Mohkintsis (present-day Calgary), discussing his rituals, the different rituals and routines people have in Calgary and in Siksika and why it is interesting to examine.

Photo: Jesus Martin Ruiz

For the third day, DTalk’s “M/X” added to their series of experiential happenings, digital tours and individual connections with “Untold City: Lobbies and +15”. The “M/X” had a Live Instagram post to help uncover the lesser known story of the +15 and lobbies as public domains for urban interaction. This “Untold City” episode presented an online examination of the histories and legacies of the +15 and lobby as public spaces for expression and gathering. 

Let's Talk About the Grid..a reflection by Richard Harrison

The best laid plans do not always come to fruition, and this was unfortunately the case when capturing the video content from our Electromagnetic Field event. As a way to capture the stories, and energy of the evening, we asked members of the panel to share thoughts with us on what they remember. From Richard Harrison…

 

What I Can Tell You About What I Recall is how supportive the audience was. I probably should have expected it – it was a D.Talks event after all – but there was a surprise for me: how many people from the energy sector were there to talk about their own hopes for a transformation from a “that which we destroy to create energy” to “that which we can use creatively to transform already created energy into a form we can use.” To use the language of high school physics, we were all of a mind on the idea that instead of going from potential to kinetic, we can re-route kinetic energy from one form to another. That was a revelation to me. I thought the conversation excelled when it was about that. 


It may have something to do with the nature of public speaking, but I don’t remember much of what I personally said outside the poem that I read. In Reimagining Fire, this poem appears alongside three others of mine, alongside printmaker Kate Baillies’ beautiful piece that depicts a microscopic view of soil in which the darkened earth appears like the night sky. It’s as close as I’ve seen to Blake’s instruction that to see rightly is to see the universe in a grain of sand. So here they are, the best words I had to offer that night. 



And it Bursts with Light 



Near the end of my travels in Ghana, 

I saw a young woman begging 

near the market where 

I went to spend the last of my Ghanaian money, 

which cannot be switched 

for other money once you leave. 


I had already seen things that changed my eyes: 


The generation of river-blind grandparents holding the hands 

of the children bound to them by family to lead them 

through the cacophonous streets.


Men with alms’ bowls in their mouths, their hands fisted around 

blocks of wood, hauling the legs that polio left curled like trumpet pipe 

where taxi cabs from the airport sat stopped by red lights. 


And then I met the woman at the market who,

said a shopkeeper, was a leper, the disease her name, 

“leper”, like “believer” or “follower”

essence before existence,

that essence, a terror of medieval thought. 


She was looking for money. She was alone. I know. 

I know. 

I knew leprosy was not contagious. 

I knew being within range of her breath would 

put me in no danger. Still, 

when I gave her the rest of my money, 

I let her put her fingers on one side of the bills 

while I held the other. 


But after she accepted my money, 

she smiled and looked me in the face, 

and put out her hand again, 

offering it to mine to shake, 

to touch and be touched,

human being, human being,  

giving me a chance to do something 

my life had never asked. 

I took her hand. 

I thanked her. I wished her well. 


When I came back from Africa, I asked Lisa to marry me.

The limits of your poetry 

are the words you never write, 

and I have never written the story of 

the day I held a leper’s hand.


Perhaps I thought that reaching 

across the kind of fearful ignorance 

that knowledge alone cannot dispel 

but tells you that you must 

is something I would need to do only once. 


Perhaps I’d hoped that to be true, 

though I know it isn’t. 


Perhaps I haven’t known what I would do

if I had to do it over.


Perhaps I’ve never seen what I did not just 

as defying what I felt, but as in defiance of

everything that raised me, right or wrong.   



I have been less intimate with the Earth 

than those who drill for oil.


I have loved the land less 

than a rancher loves it.


The biology I studied in the 1970s 

is the biology of a planet that no longer exists. 


The Earth I have known 

has always been sick. 


But now the machine 

we have tried to make of the world, 

the pistons of its great engines, 

the vaults of its boilers and 

the secret labs of its chemical combinations 

and microscopic explosions are crumbling 

all around us; 

the fires have leapt from their furnaces; 


the Earth is a holy thing, alive, dying, terrible, 

reaching out, and

we cannot flee the falling plinths of the sky, 

the roof of the atmosphere so shattered that 

the sun looks down with its destroyer’s face. 


I want to retreat into every treasured mistake I’ve been taught 

that got me here. 


But their collapse is telling us everything we do now 

must be done with love for what we have treated 

with the contempt of young thieves 

robbing their parents 

and blaming them for their own dishonesty. 


Here. Look here. 

Here is the soil, a word that entered 

our language 800 years ago 

as a combination of 

“tub” and “filth” to mean, 

“a pig’s wallowing place,” it is the soil 


as the miracle of microbes and elements 

below the level of our sight; 

not a carbon capture machine, 

or a natural resource to be doused 

with fertilizers and pesticides year after year 

until it can give no more; 


the soil is a billion billion billion mouths to feed — us, 

a giant mothering around the Earth 

that would be dead as Mars without it; 

the soil’s darkness is our own. Touch it, says this artwork.

Touch me, says the hand I would have 

shunned were it never open to me 

to release error’s hold, and touch – touch

the divine and giving 

and it bursts, it bursts with light.







I found the other panelists’ presentations fascinating – and the silence of attention in the room while they were speaking says the audience did, too. I’m sure the other panelists will speak more fully on what they presented, so I won’t try to recap it all. I will say that of the talks, the one I’ve spoken of most since has been Chris Cheng’s presentation on geothermal energy. What excited me most about it was the way in which it embodies the principles of energy redirection rather than destruction: heat from below the surface of the earth used to power our energy-consuming devices on top of it. And that we can transform abandoned oil wells – of which there are thousands blighting the Alberta landscape – is both poetic and ecological: gold from lead. I’d heard of geothermal energy, of course, but to see it as something we are already using at scale was heartening. We need hope, not as an illusion, but as a motivator, and hope with an example is hope we can sustain. 


One last thing, though I think this overlaps with what we do have a recording of, was the conversation about just how much energy we have put into the atmosphere that has created the crisis we knew we were experiencing at the time of the talks and that we have been feeling in the air with our own failing bodies as we watch it consume our forests these past few weeks. I think of the physicist who talked about how much energy it takes to raise the world’s temperature by a degree Celsius. He used the “Hiroshima bomb” as a unit of measure. It was a shockingly enormous number of them – how much destructive power it takes to change the planet – destructive power we have used blithely. And I thought a couple of things. One was the way in which one generation’s unimaginable unleashed force has become a unit of measure two generations later. Such a short time for the weapon we once thought the worst we could make to become a word for energy the way barrel serves to measure oil. Secondly, and more important, how many lives that bomb took in 1945; that’s how many lives are in the balance every time we use that much energy now, only now our use of that energy is hidden in everyday life, so our work, illustrated so profoundly by the electromagnetic art of Allora & Calzadilla that we were there to honour, is to make that invisible energy noticed, make it understood as the life and death meaning it has. 



Richard Harrison

July 30, 2023.

Let's Talk About...The Grid

May 4, 2023

Author: Jared Tailfeathers Editor: Richard Harrison

Moderator Mark Hopkins interviews our panelists for a Q+A about The Grid.

Image credit: Jesus Martin Ruiz

Break through the grid of power to take an intimate look into how the energy of the country is generated and dispersed, the harm it causes and the hold it has on us.  

 

How does it effect?

Who does it affect? 

Who holds the power to shape the world to come, and salvage the world that is? 

Where do regular citizens fit? 

Where do regular citizens fight? 

Can art and creativity hold answers to climate issues? 

Can art and culture act as agents of change?

Can those answers produce action? 

Can different opinions support collective interaction and inter-community wellness? 

 

These questions, in not so few words, were the basis for the discussion and presentation at the Calgary Central Library that highlighted the active (and activist) work called “The Electromagnetic Field” by Allora and Calzadilla. Like the shavings of metal danced across the plain by the invisible forces that ripple and quake, electrifying the artwork, so were the participants who were present to talk about The Grid. Feelings, too, are the unforeseen waves of knowledge, and the night’s discussion produced a desire to learn more, share those ideas, and act.

Industry and governments have propelled the world into a future both miraculous and disastrous. We gathered here to feel those magnetic waves echo from the industrious past, ride through our rising present, to the nervous quiver of anticipation to the future: can we calm those waves before we drown in their fury?

Tonight, we look to the leaders of climate awareness and cultural adjustment, get to know them and why they think it should be as important to you as it is to them. We step with them into the light of possibility. A collection of bright minds, enthusiastic optimism and concrete solutions to challenge the status quo of the powers-that-are and the powers-that-would-be. Tonight: An invitation for education and an encouragement for collaboration.

 

 

Panelists












Maggie Hanna is the President of Common Ground Energy Corp, a Fellow at the Energy Futures Lab and an Associate of the University of Calgary’s Canadian Energy Systems Analysis Research Group (CESAR). With 40 years of experience in resource exploration (minerals, oil and gas), energy systems, and innovation, she has a broad understanding of worldwide energy systems and a strong grounding in systems thinking. One of her favourite quotes is from Aristotle who says, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

Maggie is frequently engaged as a speaker, panelist, educator, and writer exploring energy transition topics. She spends 2-3 hours a day scanning the world horizon for events and articles detailing real examples of measures being taken to address climate change and protect the biosphere.

Two to three articles make it into her daily blog called, “How the Future Can Go Really, Really Well”, designed to provide real hope, especially to young people experiencing climate change anxiety, depression and despair.

One of Maggie’s key drivers is beautifully said by poet Susan Griffin.  “We know ourselves to be made from this earth. We know this earth is made from our bodies. For we see ourselves. And we are Nature. We are Nature seeing Nature. We are Nature with a concept of Nature. Nature weeping. Nature speaking of Nature to Nature.”










Printer, film-maker, and editor of Re-Imagining Fire: The Future of Energy, Eveline Kolijn resides in Calgary.

Growing up in the Caribbean, she experienced both the beauty and the demise of coral reefs. This childhood influenced her development as an artist and interest in the connections between art, science, the environment, and climate change. Eveline received a MA in cultural anthropology from Leiden University in the Netherlands in 1986 and a BFA from the Alberta College of Art + Design in 2008, including the Governor General’s Award for academic achievement.

As well as participating in national and international exhibitions, residencies, and public art projects, her work also appears in many scientific publications. She is an Ambassador of the Energy Futures Lab. In 2019, she received the AUArts Alumni Legacy Award. In her current work, she is using the arts and her Ambassador experience to promote energy literacy, environmental awareness, and discussion on energy transition.











Richard Harrison is the author of the Governor General’s Award-winning book of poetry On Not Losing My Father’s Ashes in the Flood and a Professor Emeritus at Mount Royal University where he taught courses in essay- and creative writing as well as the study of comics and graphic novels.

His works at the intersection of art and politics have appeared in the anthologies Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts Here, marking the American invasion of Iraq and the resulting bombing of Baghdad’s famous booksellers’ street, Sweet Water: Poems for the Watersheds, Signs of Water: Community Perspectives on Water, Responsibility, and Hope, His poem “Iran Under Theocracy” recently aired, in both English and Farsi on Radio Namaashoum, Ottawa.

Richard is also one of 60 writers and artists contributing to Re-Imagining Fire, the book inaugurating the The Energy Futures Project, an argument in image and verse to transform the politics of exploitative resource extraction into a social and environmentally sustainable and just future for the planet and all to whom it gives life. 













A graduate of Mechanical Engineering with a Petroleum Engineering minor from the University of Calgary, Chris Cheng is the Development Engineer at Eavor Technologies. 

Prior to joining Eavor, he spent over a decade in the upstream oil and gas sector working in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin with his final five years in the industry specializing in new technology development. While working on the Heavy Oil Technology team at Devon Canada, Chris led a multi-disciplinary team from conception to execution of an experimental scheme to test conductive heating of a heavy oil reservoir in Northeast Alberta.

In 2012, Chris co-founded Holiday Rejects Apparel Inc., and appeared on Canadian reality TV show Dragons’ Den where he and his partners pitched and executed a deal with three of the five Dragon investors. In 2018, his most recent venture, Full Circle Energy, was amalgamated with Canuc Resources Corporation (TSX-V: CDA), where he is currently a member of the board as an independent director.










Kelly Edzerza-Bapty is a daughter of the Unceded Tahltan Nation stewards of the Stikine watershed.  She is principal of Obsidian Architecture, an Indigenous and female forward firm.  She was born in Inuvik and raised in Hay River, Northwest Territories and Northeastern B.C,and she is currently a resident in K’tunaxa & Secwépemc territory in Golden BC. 

Kelly has developed her unique Indigenous perspective in Architecture from her experience in cultural revitalization and land occupancy, her foundation in design, fabrication and building in remote communities and landscapes, and in her work designing for local capacity building in construction.  Kelly is the First Indigenous Female from a Nation within BC to become a registered Architect AIBC, and one of a handful practicing in Canada. Kelly focuses her research and professional practice within First Nations communities across B.C. NWT & the Yukon.

Seeing architecture as a tool of autonomy for Indigenous Nations, Kelly focuses her practice on re-building Indigenous Communities and Cultural Centres in a way that expresses the Indigenous values of self-determination and land-based construction and capacity. Kelly has termed this form of building, “Generational Architecture”, a revitalization of the Indigenous language of sustainability in all things. 


Moderator






Mark Hopkins is the Artistic Director of Swallow-a-Bicycle Theatre, which generates productive discomfort through art-making, and an Associate with Human Venture Leadership, which seeks to build our collective capacities to reduce ignorance, error, waste, suffering and injustice.

He also works as an Audio Describer for blind and low-vision people with Inside Out Theatre's Good Host program. Mark volunteers with Kawalease Arab Canadian Theatre and the Centre for Newcomers, is a Fellow with the Energy Futures Lab, and founded the community-bridging initiative, “We Should Know Each Other” that brought people from widely disparate groups that would rarely if ever meet but benefit greatly from their conversations together for years one house party at a time. 


Electromagnetic Field 

Electromagnetic Field: Allora & Calzadilla

Image credit: Arkive

The artist duo uses iron filing droppings on linen canvas and moves the canvas over a complex configuration of copper wires. The currant connects directly to the breaker in the artist studio then vibrates, stretches, and shifts the iron across the canvas in waves of abstract shapes and ripples. 

"The work’s full title (Electromagnetic Field: January 5, 2022 (Meter Number 96215234, Consumption Charge 425kWh x $0.04944, Consumption Charge for Additional 1,485kWh x $0.05564, Fuel Charge Adj 1,910kWh x $0.147356, Purchased Power Charge Adj 1,910kWh x $0.036202, Municipalities Adj 1,910kWh x $0.003235, Subsidies, Public Light & other Subv HH, 1,910kWh x $0.0010368, Subsidies, Public Light & other Subv NHH 1,910kWh x $0.000522) comes from the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority, linking the production of these shapes to the island’s power infrastructure, an entity shaped by both American colonial control and internal corruption. The title also alludes to the oil futures market and transnational holders of the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority’s bond debt to the local consumers who suffer the consequences of the bankrupt power authority’s fiscal mismanagement."

"We live in a “metaverse”––where we spend an increasing amount of our lives online––but we also live in what some call the “Anthropocene”—the geological age in which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. 

One effect of this is that we’ve never been less sure of what it means to be human. It has become increasingly important to consider the costs of development and reckless natural resource extraction.”

 

RECOGNITION OF SUPPORT

This talk and exhibition were produced in partnership with the Calgary Public Library + Arkive.

These events were made possible with the support of Dialog, BIRD and Leading Edge Developments.

WriteON residency with Esker Foundation

ART AS RESISTANCE AND REVELATION IN ACADEMIA

In partnership with Esker Foundation, WriteON writing workshops featured a Residency and Publishing Opportunity in September, 2021. Two authors (WriteON 2021 Alum Suzanne Chew and WriteON 2019 Alum Sue-Shane Tsomondo) were invited to develop a response to RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting curated by Cheryl Sim, and organized by the Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal. The exhibition is currently on view at Esker Foundation.

Each writer approached the residency independently and worked with Esker Foundation on the development of a written response. We partnered with Esker Foundation to produce two public talks to reveal the process and ideas each writer was exploring.

Suzanne Chew invited Romani Makkik for a conversation on their experiences in graduate student research, and how they have used art as a means to tell new stories, rooted in strength and self-determination. How might art uplift the voices of communities with whom student researchers work, within the framework of academia today?

Participants were encouraged to read/watch the following: Wounded Healers a short film by Romani Makeik, and read Suzanne’s short story Country Food, Soul Food, and poem Notes on a Caribou Hearing.

About the speakers

Suzanne Chew is an international student at the University of Calgary who has published poetry and short stories as part of reflecting on her role and responsibility as a doctoral researcher. Her research focuses on inclusive participation and environmental decision-making, learning from Inuit communities in western Nunavut. Suzanne also co-convenes a research working group led by graduate students called Voice and Marginality at the Nexus of Racism and Colonialism, a research working group led by graduate students, hosted by the Calgary Institute for the Humanities. This working group is a collaborative and creative research space that aims to build a community focused on critical reflection, interdisciplinarity, and engaged scholarship that contributes to social change. We validate different ways of knowing and being, and seek to uplift voices of students and scholars from Black, Indigenous, and racialized communities. Suzanne is a WriteON 2021 alum. 

Romani Makkik is an Inuk film director who produced “The Wounded Healers”, an intensely powerful film based on her Master’s research with a counsellor training program in Kangiqtugaapik (Clyde River), about the powerful story of how one community transforms lives by drawing on its strengths.

A special thanks to Calgary Arts Development for making possible the WriteON 2021 program and our first critic-in-residence program. We'd also like to thank our partner Esker Foundation for creating space for these writers and making this residency a deep learning experience.

WriteON residency with Esker Foundation

WE WERE ONCE PEOPLE: A CONVERSATION ABOUT DISPLACEMENT AND BELONGING

Writer in residence Sue-Shane Tsomondo invited fellow African artist JustMoe to discuss the loss of language and voice. This topic is loosely inspired by a quote from NoViolet Bulwayo’s debut novel We Need New Names, “Because we were not in our country, we could not use our own languages, and so when we spoke our voices came out bruised.”

In partnership with Esker Foundation, we’re delighted to share a series of talks borne out of the WriteON writing workshops. This first residency features two authors who were invited to develop a response to RELATIONS: Diaspora and Painting curated by Cheryl Sim, and organized by the Phi Foundation for Contemporary Art, Montréal. The exhibition is currently on view at Esker Foundation.

ABOUT THE SPEAKERS

Writer in residence Sue-Shane Tsomondo is a poet, educator, book curator and the creator of Sue’s Stokvel, a Calgary-based literary arts platform. Sue’s Stokvel highlights the work of Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC) writers. She has previously performed for Woolfs’ Voices and Single Onion. In 2020, Sue-Shane appeared onthe cover of the Calgary Journal. Sue-Shane has also been featured in Arts Commons, Avenue Magazine, The Calgarian podcast, In Rehearsal podcast and the Artful Conversations podcast. In 2021, Sue-Shane (Sue’s Stokvel) partnered with Humainologie to create The Khumbul’ekhaya project + workshop for Empathy Week. Sue-Shane is a WriteON 2019 alum.

Mohamed Ahmed (Just Moe) is a multidisciplinary artist from Sudan and developed on the Southside of Edmonton, in Millwoods. A recent graduate of the acting program at the National Theatre School of Canada and a musician under the name Just Moe. Authenticity is a main force of his work, and he hopes to share himself as authentically as possible with the world.

A special thanks to Calgary Arts Development for making possible the WriteON 2021 program and our first critic-in-residence program. We'd also like to thank our partner Esker Foundation for creating space for these writers and making this residency a deep learning experience.

Live at Noon: a discussion on diaspora and belonging

As we navigate isolating lockdowns, masking, and even mourning, what does it mean to care for others? What is the role of architecture in creating a feeling of belonging? What stories of occupation and conflict can be amended with new ways forward?

A discussion took place between K. Jake Chakasim and Neena Verma about diaspora and the feeling of belonging. It was moderated by Alicia Ta, with a closing response by Jared Tailfeathers. We invited Sally El Sayed to write a response of what she heard from the discussion as a way of bringing light to the conversation. Read her response and view the discussion below.

Discussion Reflection

By: Sally El Sayed

Diaspora simply put is movement to and from, however the word can mean different things for different people. To set the stage for the talk, the panelists collectively curated a definition for diaspora as it meant to them.  Together it was established as a relationship between people, land, belonging, home, and identity. My understanding of the term also comes through the relationship between mental and physical terrains. Land is often woven with identity, community, culture, and histories. People have the diaspora negotiate and carry fragments of these relationships from afar through memory. This becomes an exercise of world building; building the world in-between that bridges here and there. Often the diaspora is understood from a global context of displaced migration whether forced or voluntary to a new geographical host. However, diaspora can be considered from a domestic perspective as well. In the North American and Canadian context colonial nations superimposed onto Indigenous lands and people forced a separation within the bounds of the borders.  Diaspora becomes equally about understanding between where people come from and where they are coming to?

The understanding of the intricacies and variations of the term diaspora raises questions when approaching meaningful design of space: How or can architecture carry the identity of the many while still acknowledging and respecting the land of those indigenous to it? Can the feelings of “home” be designed or is it something that is formed through community and culture?  Architecture as it stands today is often constructed under modes of control: controlling the use of the land, the movement of people and the access of space. Especially in terms of both Indigenous people and immigrants the way cities, schools and other spaces can often be designed in such way to produce and othering and exclusionary experience. How can architecture move away from the use of control to designing with empathy, care, understanding and respect for the land and people?

Sally El Sayed is currently studying how the destruction of physical space is simultaneous destruction of memory and is interested in collective and community-driven design thinking and documentation. She lives in Ottawa and is a student at the Azrieli School of Architecture and Urbanism at Carleton University.

Question and Answer with

K. Jake Chakasim, a Cree architect from the Mushkegowuk Territory (Northern Ontario) and a doctoral candidate at the University of British Columbia’s School of Community and Regional Planning.

Neena Verma, a practicing architect, teacher and writer based in New York City. Her work queries the limits of contemporary architectural discourse—culturally, geographically and temporally.

Moderated by

Alicia Ta, Co-chair of the FOLD Editorial Committee who works in Planning at the City of Calgary and is an active volunteer with local community organizations.

Closing Response by

Jared Tailfeathers, performance and interactive installation artist of Blackfoot heritage. He is a member of The Tens Only Collective and a member of Indigenous Resilience In Music that focuses on helping further the musical pursuits of aboriginal musicians with a special focus on youth.

This event was co-produced with Calgary Public Library and made possible with the support of Calgary Arts Development and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Let's talk about...land and memory

Question

Land and Memory started with the question of our city’s evolution and the implications of how we build. The term “heritage” didn’t seem to be enough, we wanted to delve more deeply into the stories of this place. We reside in Moh’kinstsis, and we wanted to explore how memories and histories can help to remake support networks. Our primary question was, from the horizon to the cartesian grid, what have we built? And, how does this influence our sense of belonging?

Image © Sergio Veyzaga, 2020.

Image © Sergio Veyzaga, 2020.

The evening was hosted in partnership with the Calgary Public Library. It started with an introduction by Kelli Morning Bull and a blessing by Elder Treffrey Deerfoot who brought forward ideas of not wanting to over-harvest resources and of welcoming newcomers. There was much in this blessing that started the discussion on the right foot, that of revealing a connection to the land.

Panelists

Tiffany Shaw-Collinge (Métis) is an interdisciplinary artist, curator and registered architect in Alberta and working at Manasc Isaac Architects. Oscillating between digital and analogue methodologies, her work gathers notions of craft, memory and atmosphere. She has been the recipient of multiple public art commissions such as Edmonton's Indigenous Art Park and Winnipeg’s Markham Bus Station. Among her public art projects Tiffany has produced several notable transitory art works and is a core member of Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective. 

Iman Bukhari holds a Masters in Multimedia Communications and is the CEO of the Canadian Cultural Mosaic Foundation. She has worked and volunteered in the not-for-profit sector for more than 11 years. Iman received the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation’s 30 Under 30 award, and is the producer of the documentary YYC Colours, which examines racism in Calgary. In turn, she has been a trailblazer in both multimedia storytelling and anti-racism advocacy.

Jessie Andjelic is an architect, urbanist, educator, and founding partner of SPECTACLE Bureau for Architecture and Urbanism. Jessie regularly mentors students and interns, and in 2019 was awarded the Young Architect prize from the Royal Architectural Institute of Canada. With her work, Jessie seeks opportunities to create works of architecture that critically examine and influence our cities.

Moderator: Suzanne Harris-Brandts PhD, OAA, is an architect, urban scholar and Assistant Professor of Architecture and Urbanism at Carlton University. She is also a co-founder of Collective Domain, a practice for spatial analysis, urban activism, architecture, and media in the public interest. Her interdisciplinary work bridges design and the social sciences to explore issues of power, equity, and collective identity in the built environment.

Image © Nicole Wolf, 2020.

Image © Nicole Wolf, 2020.

Topic Explored

The discussion moved from reflecting on the history of colonial land development, the representation of culturally-diverse needs in planning, and the idea of physical memory—how memory is passed through generations. There were ideas challenging institutional layers of inclusion, an understanding of able-bodied privilege, and notions of sustainability. Relationships between well-being (and definitions of healing spaces), climate, and race were explored through the lens of the built environment. Ideas resonating included how designers must become more active listeners and must seek outside perspectives. More reflection, less coming to the design with an idea, but instead, with a curiosity to listen first.

Moving to the Mezzanine

Following the panel discussion, we moved the conversation to the mezzanine. Produced in partnership with the Calgary Public Library and the Advocates for Equitable Design Education collective, those in the audience were treated to smaller conversations. Our conversation facilitators included:

  • AEDE: Joy Olagoke, Vincent Yong, Sasha Simic, Mojdeh Kamali, and Veronica Briseno Castrejon

  • Calgary Public Library: Kelli Morning Bull, Myke Atkinson

  • d.talks: Francisco Villalobos, Sergio Veyzaga, Darshan Tailor, Sally El Sayed, Mina Rhami, Kim Hong, Alfred Gomez, Angat Desai, Mark Cooper and Christina Amaral-Kim.

We are grateful to each of the facilitators who researched and explored the topic of land and memory, and who brought insights and levels of listening to the mezzanine.

Image (c) Harold Horsefall

Image (c) Harold Horsefall

Exhibition and Publication

The Land and Memory exhibition is on view from outdoors at the City of Calgary’s Open Spaces windows at the east-bound Centre Street LRT platform. (124 - 7th Avenue SW). The exhibition is up through December.

The articles that our panelists commissioned for the Land and Memory issue of FOLD can be found at: thisisthefold.org.

Support

None of this work would be possible without the support from the Canada Council for the Arts, with ongoing additional support from Calgary Arts Development and Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

Let's talk about...making room

Housing has become the frontline defence against the coronavirus. Home has rarely been more of a life or death situation.

– Leilani Farha, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing


Question:

If housing is a right, what’s the path to a more equitable city that houses all? How do diversity and mixed housing options coexist within a neighbourhood?

From home, this discussion explored housing, inclusion, and the challenges to making the room so that everyone has a stable roof.

This event was presented in partnership with the Calgary Public Library.

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Panelists

Romy Garrido (moderator) works in communications and political management, having worked at The City of Calgary and now for the non-profit housing sector in Parkdale, Toronto. She frequently comments on issues of equity and migration, and applies theory to practice through grassroots community organizing.

Bruce Irvine is the Manager of Affordable Housing for the City of Calgary responsible for implementing on the City’s Affordable Housing Strategy, policy initiatives to scale up the nonprofit housing sector and capital construction of the ten year capital plan to build over 1,000 new homes.

Martina Jileckova is the CEO at Horizon Housing and Co-chair of the Community Housing Affordability Collective (CHAC). She is a member of the Calgary Local Immigration Partnership Council and the Aboriginal Standing Committee on Housing and Homelessness. She serves on Boards for the Community Housing Transformation Centre and Alberta Network of Public Housing Agencies.

Bernadette Majdell, since 2016, has been the CEO of HomeSpace Society, a non-profit real estate developer, rental housing owner and property manager. She has been active in the homeless sector, serving as a board member at the Calgary Homeless Foundation and held a prominent role in the development of Calgary’s Ten Year Plan to End Homelessness.

Gabriela Rendón is the Founder and Director of the Housing Justice Lab a platform for dialogue, research and strategic design for equitable neighbourhood development based at The New School in New York City. She is a co-founder both of Cohabitation Strategies, a non-profit organization for socio-spatial research, design and development; and of Urban Front, a transnational consultancy focused on helping progressive public and social sectors achieve their goals as they address critical urban problems.

Lee Stevens works at Vibrant Communities Calgary as a Policy and Research Specialist. She has worked as a Social Worker in Calgary since 2006, for organizations such as the Calgary Drop-in Centre and Rehab Society, CUPS, and Alberta Health Services.  Lee applies her critical understanding of poverty towards advocacy for more socially just policies.  She works to support the advancement of policy goals already identified by Enough for All stakeholders through research, writing and development. 


DISCUSSION FACILITATORS

Myke Atkinson, Kyle Auch, Sarah Bramley, Caitlan Doran, Steven Dohlman, Zorica Gvozdenac, Hayley Gislason, Kim Hoang, Ron Jaicarran, Sukhpreet Kaur, Elsbeth Mehrer, Christina Michayluk, Melissa Obi, Mina Rahimi, Angat Sanjay Desai, Alicia Ta, Darshan Tailor, Hazma Tariq, Sergio Veyzaga and Francisco Villalobos.


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SUMMARY OF RESOURCES SHARED BY AUDIENCE MEMBERS

PUSH the film backgrounder and how to view.

City of Calgary Affordable Housing Information here.

Community Affordability Housing Collective here.

Alberta Affordability Housing Review here.

HomeSpace here.

Housing Justice Lab here.

Horizon Housing here.

Pandemic Comics Sprawl here.

Vibrant Calgary here.


Let's talk about...togetherness

Question:

We connect with our built environment through stories, most of which are passed down over time. When we design spaces that we call the public realm, we rely on the narratives and the lived experience of the city that we know. We design from a place that is familiar to us. But how do we know what we don’t know? How can we open up the design process, slightly?

Photo: Mina Rahimi

Photo: Mina Rahimi

Panelists:

Avnish Nanda founded the Edmonton-based boutique litigation firm, Nanda Law. He works on public law disputes around rights with First Nations, Inuit and Metis as well as considerations around land use planning and natural resource management. His work has brought him to appear before the Supreme Court of Canada as well as Provincial courts in Alberta, British Columbia and Ontario. Nanda has a long history in social justice issues. He co-founded and led  the crowdfunding platform JusticeFundr to reduce financial barriers to access to justice. Committed to ensuring accessibility to the legal profession, he has stewarded the raising approximately $500,000 towards low income bursaries and a back-end debt relief program at Osgoode Hall Law School.

For Catherine Hamel, who was born in Beirut, Lebanon, the experience of extreme physical destruction, and rapid human adaptation due to the politics of the region is a personal given that translated into a professional curiosity. With no claims to answers, the tenuous bridge between the personal and the collective is one she continuously builds and dismantles. As an associate professor of architecture at the School of Architecture, Landscape and Planning at the University of Calgary, she is currently working with a team of students in a studio on re-settlement collaborations. This studio is looking at forced displacement—and possible roles of the built environment in mitigating adaptation.

Daryl “Dancing Buffalo” Kootenay is a young indigenous youth leader, artist and father. He is a role model to many Indigenous and non-Indigenous youth in his community and surrounding communities of the Stoney Nakoda Nation, Alberta. He is Stoney Nakoda through his mother’s heritage and is also from the Navajo Nation in New Mexico from his father’s heritage. Kootenay has been recognized for his local, national and international work by the Governor General of Canada and was awarded the Sovereign’s Medal for Volunteers at Rideau Hall, Ottawa. He is a faculty member at the Banff Centre for Indigenous Leadership, has co-founded the Nakoda Youth Council, and coordinated youth from the Stoney Nation to attend the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.

Despina Stratigakos is a Canadian-born architectural historian and writer. She serves as Vice Provost for Inclusive Excellence at the State University of New York at Buffalo and has written extensively on marginalized and alternative histories in architecture. She is the author of Where Are the Women Architects? (2016), a probing of equity issues through the pop culture power of Architect Barbie and Wikipedia digital disappearances. Her book, Hitler at Home, is an investigation of how the dictator remade his image through his domestic spaces. A Women’s Berlin: Building the Modern City is a portrait of a forgotten female metropolis in the early twentieth century. Published in 2008, this book was commended for its contribution to the understanding of women in design, recognized by the International Archive of Women in Architecture, and received a DAAD Book Prize by the German Studies Association.

Photo: Mini Rahimi

Photo: Mini Rahimi

Discussion:

At d.talks, we often say that a question is as important as an answer. Audience questions that ensued:

What does reconciliation mean to you? Can it still happen? Please share another story, on how to overcome fear. What makes for an inclusive space? In an age of what seems like massive polarization and differences, how can we come together and find common ground? What have you noticed that is improving “togetherness” in Calgary? And, what’s still holding us back?

Does a social norm really exist? If you could design cities for women today, what would you change/implement? What does it mean to reclaim space? How can architecture be more than building, how can architecture become a facilitator? How can we avoid the echo chamber: how can we listen better to those who don’t want to listen?

For those arriving early, they were treated to a tour of recent public art acquisitions at the Central Public Library. Thanks ever so much to Jared Tailfeathers for sharing your knowledge with us!

Photo: Mina Rahimi

Photo: Mina Rahimi

Event Support:

We’d like to thank Village Ice Cream, Lukes, Sidewalk Citizen, and the Calgary Public Library for helping to make this event possible. We’d also like to recognize the ongoing support of Calgary Arts Development and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.

This event concludes our WriteOn 2019 workshop, a program that was supported by Canada Council for the Arts and the Rozsa Foundation. A call for the next workshop will be forthcoming, we’d love to have you involved.

Thanks to each d.talks volunteer, you keep us moving forward…