Inspired by a vast swampland on the border of North Carolina and Virginia where escaped enslaved and free Black people and Indigenous peoples found safe haven for centuries, this project imagines portals of protection and a blueprint for a future not bound by resistance, resilience or reaction, but creation.
Join us to experience the results of this multi-sensory experimentation of food and space on Saturday December 17th, from 6:00-9:00 PM at Gallery 101 (280 Catherine St).
Register on Eventbrite (Free!)
Project Collaborators
- Shaya Ishaq
- Nasrin Himada
- Wellington Sanipe
- Chef Resa Solomon-St Lewis
- Chef Marissa Leon-John
- Gastro-curator Berlin Reed
Curatorial Statement by Berlin Reed
This 6-day residency hosts an open collaborative space for a creative cohort to explore the liberation fantasy held within the mystique of the Great Dismal Swamp - a vast swampland on the border of North Carolina and Virginia where escaped enslaved and free Black people and Indigenous people found safe haven for centuries. With little historical documentation to form an accurate picture of life in the Swamp or describe how people moved safely through it to reach freedom, we are free to imagine the existence of portals and the protection of ancestors and sacred spirits of a culture that existed outside of the norms for centuries - perhaps outside of this plane of existence. This new world’s offer of salvation amongst a nightmarish reality can be a blueprint for a future that is not bound by resistance, resilience, or reaction, but creation.
Sounds from the Great Dismal Swamp is the early mutterings of a project that will envelop viewers in a sensorial Afro-futuristic installation that includes scents of mud and edible moss, auditory and olfactory portals, watery floors, darkness, and muffled soundscapes. Through experimentation, the cohort will uncover the shape and tone of the installation while stretching their respective creative boundaries. The last day of testing – Saturday December 17th – will be open to the public to see and experience, inviting a crucial layer of feedback to our discovery.
Project Acknowledgements
We acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts
COVID-Policy
Let’s reduce the risk of transmitting COVID-19 and other respiratory illnesses.
We ask that folks mask at the event and take it off for eating and drinking only. We will have a limited quantity of masks available.
Please complete a self-screening at home prior to coming to the event. If you test positive for COVID-19 on a rapid antigen test, or have been displaying or exposed to any symptoms, please STAY HOME!
Rapid antigen tests can be found free at your local pharmacy or grocery store. Please call your neighbourhood pharmacy or use Ontario’s Rapid Test Locator
We also strongly recommend:
- Being fully vaccinated with at least two doses of approved vaccines received at least two weeks prior to the event.
- Washing your hands and/or using hand sanitizer often, making sure to scrub for at least 20 seconds each time