skip to Main Content
Events: August 21-23, 2014.

Events: August 21-23, 2014.

Material Witness: Art, Activism & Fibre
Friday, August 22, 7pm—10pm.
Exhibit runs until October 4.

Barry Ace, Karina Bergmans, Emily Rose Michaud, Bozica Radjenovic, & Mona Sharma. Curator: Laura Margita
Barry Ace, “Nigik Makizinan – Otter Moccasins” (2014), Found leather boots, otter pelts, velvet, capacitors, resistors, diodes, light emitting diodes (LED), deer hide, synthetic porcupine hair, cotton thread, brass hawk bells, felt.
Textile is a powerful and versatile medium put to use throughout human herstory for travel, clothing, agriculture, architecture, historical documentation, expression of identity and experimental art. Barry Ace, Karina Bergmans, Emily Rose Michaud, Bozica Radjenovic and Mona Sharma are each occupying creative termini at the edges of fibre art. Each artist has followed the path of their artistic practice to an expression that is as logical to the heart as to the formal and aesthetic conversation of professional contemporary art practices.
The installation Ms. Michaud is presenting “How We Gather, PART III: Under Our Highways, Rivers Flow” was created with an artistic development and production residency made possible through the Dennis Tourbin Fund for Emerging Artists. The Dennis Tourbin Fund for Emerging Artists at the Community Foundation of Ottawa, is a permanent tribute to the greatly respected late Ottawa artist and his legacy. The fund seeks to encourage emerging artists to carry out creative works of art that cross disciplines and traditional boundaries. It also seeks to promote the presentation of art outside of the gallery walls into the public arena, reaching new audiences and engaging the community
Gallery 101 – 51B Young Street, Ottawa, ON, K1S 3H6.
Info: http://www.g101.ca/exhibits/material-witness-art-activism-and-fibre



Emily Rose Michaud, “How We Gather, PART III: Under Our Highways, Rivers Flow”, 2014. Ephemeral installation using burlap, rye and wheat, Super 8 mm film projection, soundscape. 

Taste The $ource (while supplies last) 
A series of public performances celebrating waterThursday Aug. 21 @ 2PM, Sparks Street – exact location TBA

Friday Aug 22 @ 8PM Gallery 101, 51 B Young Street

Saturday Aug 23, 8:30AM @ University of Ottawa, ARTS Hall 70 Laurier Street East, Room 033

A freshwater mermaid offers a taste of her treasured collection of often-forgotten rivers and lakes from various regions of Quebec. Some water samples are out of stock, some taste like blueberry roots and rocks – a rare experience as the commodification of water accelerates and sources of clean water become harder to find. These performances address water at first from an emotional and gustatory place, and then allow the audience to form their own response to the broader social and political issues found within. The water creature coaxes us to drink what seem to be raw waters from nearby sources, challenging us to acknowledge and adapt to the waters we live with.


Emily Rose Michaud, “Taste the $ource (while supplies last), 2014. Performance using water, various labelled jars, mermaid costume, table, signs.

Art as Resistance

Saturday, August 23, 1-3pmJoin us for a panel discussion on socially engaged art, resistance, and revolution.

Scott Benesiinaabandan (Montreal)
Adam Brown (Ottawa)
Amira Hanafi (Cairo)
Emily Rose Michaud (Montréal/Outaouais)
Moderated by: Leah Snyder (Ottawa/Toronto)

Beyond illustrating the issues at stake, can aesthetic forms themselves offer models for collaboration and movement building?
How do artists’ practices shift in response to revolution? Is a revolution a work of art?
What decolonizing strategies can we learn from artists performing and inserting their work in public space?
What role does spectacle play in creating an open space for dissent?

This is a free event. Everyone is welcome.

The Ottawa Art Gallery – 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa K1N 6E2.
Water Assembly
People’s Social Forum 2014
Saturday, August 23, 8am—12noonWater is both a universal right and a powerful mediator in the relationship between humans and the environment and between Indigenous Peoples and Canada.

Chief Roger William (Tsilhqot’in Nation) and Bob Watts (Executive Director, Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission) discuss the significance of the recent Supreme Court ruling on Aboriginal land title within the context of international human rights law, legislation and treaty rights and responsibilities.

Participants are encouraged to bring a sample of their community water supply to guide and inspire the creation of a personal and collective framework for an equitable, just and sustainable water resources management plan and Consensus Statement during the Assembly.

8am – Water Ceremony
8:30am – Art Performance: Taste The $ource, Emily Rose Michaud
9:00 – 12:00pm – Water Assembly
12:00 – 12:30pm – Networking opportunity

Event is free (Donations welcome). Snacks, coffee and tea will be served so bring your own mug!

Ottawa University, Arts Hall, 70 Laurier Street East, Room 033.

Back To Top