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Terrain of Thought

On the one-year anniversary of Train of Thought (www.trainofthought.co), join us to celebrate some of the work that is developing around the artistic, social, and political questions presented by this multifaceted community arts tour.

The evening will include readings, music, refreshments, and more. Admission is free, donations are welcome.

========================================== alt.theatre JOURNAL LAUNCH - issues 12.3 and 12.4 ========================================== Alt.theatre magazine launches a two-part issue exploring questions coming out of the Train of Thought project. These special issues, curated by editor-in-chief Nikki Shaffeeullah and the alt.theatre editorial team, in collaboration with Jumblies Theatre, brings together artists, activitsts, and community leaders from the 90+ organizations involved in Train of Thought to reflect on the project and share ideas on the potential of art to facilitate intercultural collaboration and decolonial action. Through interviews, think-pieces, scholarly articles, photo essays, script excerpts, and book reviews, these issues feature critical conversations on art, race and settler-colonialism; personal reflections on storytelling and ancestry; previews of new theatrical work; insights into community-engaged arts projects happening coast to coast; and more.

Volume 12.3: Community Arts and (De)Colonization, Part 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Featuring work by Kwasuun Vedan, Will Weigler, Aaron Leon, Rosalind Williams, Kelty McKerrracher, Darla Contois, Fiona Raye Clarke, Ruth Howard, Lib Spry, and Jill Carter.

Volume 12.4: Community Arts and (De)Colonization, Part 2 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Featuring work by Ange Loft, Iehente Foote, Savannah Walling, Lee Maracle, Sid Bobb, Columpa Bobb, Penny Couchie, Damara Jacobs-Morris, Sasha Tate-Howarth, Sam Egan, Liam Coo, Bruce Sinclair, Eliza Knockwood, and Annie Smith.

Magazines will be available for purchase: Each for $8, or both for $15

========================================== CONTACT PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL EXHIBITION ========================================== Curated by artist Liam Coo, this photo exhibition uses images from the Train of Thought journey that were shared on social media with the hashtag #TofTCanada. It sees the way travellers connected and explored the themes of the project through photography.

Featuring work by: Nani Bell Gonawabi, Lindsey Bond, Liam Coo, Shifra Cooper, Iehente Foote, Alana Forslund, Braiden Houle, Kelty Jean, Aaron Leon, Jackie Omstead, Jamie Oshkabewisens, Adrienne Marcus Raja, Nikki Shaffeeullah, Arie van de Ven, & many more!

========================================== ACCESSIBILITY NOTES: Jumblies Theatre at the Ground Floor is located at 132 Fort York Boulevard. The venue is wheelchair accessible. It is one block away from the Bathust streetcar, and street parking is available.

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Native-Land.ca

Welcome to Native-Land.ca. This is a resource for Canadians (and others) to find out more about local indigenous territories and languages.

Great resource!

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Walking on the Land: a short stroll in some new shoes

On Tuesday I installed my first solo show, Walking on the Land, at the City Atrium Gallery in North Vancouver. When I first tossed out the idea for this show in the spring, I thought it may...

What to know more about the construction and make-up of the boots that Ruth wore overtime she got on or off the train with? Look no further!

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Good Shoes for the Journey

As EartHand Gleaners Society, Sharon and I participated in the Big House Feast and TRACKS: 7th Canadian Play and Arts Symposium this past weekend. The Big House Feast is a celebration of the founding...

Read about the boots that train of thought travellers were making from coast to coast!

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HOST OF THE DAY - Sarah King Gold

Sarah King Gold, Artistic Director of Myths and Mirrors Community Arts, was our Train of Thought host in Sudbury, Ontario.  Sarah is a multi-media visual artist, social artist and performer. She plays with fantasy and reality, creating alternate worlds into which she and her audience may enter, and finds ways to draw people out of the sole role of audience into the role of co-creator.

"The most memorable moment for me while the Train of Thought travellers were in Sudbury, was when I stood on top of our park mountain and looked down at the flock of park children and Train of Thought travellers who played together to animate our name stories across the park with music, movement and spoken word.  It was a beautiful sight. I felt deeply grateful to have the opportunity to host the travellers, share our work with them and invite them into the process of creating and better understanding this territory, its names and waterways. A precious moment for me as a traveller was dancing as a human and creating the sounds of the trees, in the Aanmitagzi guided performance  at the Capitol Centre in North Bay.  Being a part of the beautiful tale of the relationship between the trees, the two legged and the four legged, I felt deeply connected to this old story as well as the beings I played with to tell it in a new way.   I feel the impact of this project as it continues to resonate and ripple through my consciousness. Voicing our stories, listening to each others' stories and creating new stories together is the way we are building a new relationship as Indigenous, settler and immigrant people.  We create our stories with the spirits of openness, dialogue, playfulness, deep respect, humility and love. I continue to be grateful for the connections which grew from this journey with amazing people across Turtle Island’s northern parts. Thank you to all of you!”

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TRAVELLER OF THE DAY - PENNY COUCHIE

Penny Couchie is a dancer, choreographer, dancer and theatre and community-engaged artist, of Anishinaabek ancestry. Penny is co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Aanmitaagzi, a community engaged multi-disciplinary arts company in her home community of Nipissing First Nation. Penny has many years of credits as a choreographer, dancer, actor and teacher across Canada and abroad. She holds a Honours BA in Aboriginal Studies and Drama from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre. Penny has been a key Jumblies artist since 2006, choreographing two large productions (Bridge of One hair in 2007 and Like An Old Tale in 2011). Her original dance piece, When Will You Rage? will be performed on Aug. 9, 2015, at Harbourfront Centre as part of Planet Indigenus. Along with husband Sid Bobb, and son Ouske, Penny joined Train of Thought from Vancouver to Edmonton and Toronto to Abegweit, as well as hosting Train of Thought in Nipissing and North Bay.

"I’m still very inspired by all the different people we met along the way and the all the organizations that we saw and I feel a sense of obligation to tell people about it and tell people about what happened so that’s what I’ve been doing along the way is making sure to tell people what my experience was and all the really fantastic work that I saw along the trip that people were doing."

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TRAVELLER OF THE DAY - PAM CAIN

Pam Cain was both a Train of Thought Traveller (from Vancouver to Edmonton) and Host (in Thunder Bay and Ottawa). Pam is based in Thunder Bay, has been involved in the arts and heritage community of Northwestern Ontario for over 30 years. As a museum director, arts administrator, artist educator and visual artist she has supported the development of Community Arts to build neighbourhoods and relationships.

"The Train of Thought was such an incredible experience. I think participating in the protocol ceremony at the Tracks Symposium, and realizing we were "witness" to this journey that was traveling across the country was the most memorable moment. The generosity of the travellers and the hosts to share talents, food, comfort, experiences and the journey was an inspiration. As I was able to participate from Vancouver to Edmonton and host travellers in Thunder Bay and Ottawa, I witnessed those travellers who were still on the journey, and how the experience was effecting them. This was an experience of a lifetime, and one that everyone of us who live on this land should journey through. The opportunity opened me to the vision of others, the importance of the relationships we need to develop and nurture, and the need for us to rewrite our imperfect history. The role of community arts on this journey was so inspiring as I saw the opportunities for people to share, discuss, and create and to begin the retelling and reconnecting so important to the future of our life on this land."

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We've had a bit of time to catch-up on things we missed during Train of Thought. For example we just updated our resources page with a whole lot of Toronto images including amazing images showing the growth of the city, changing maps of Toronto and its surrounding, and images showing the development of our Ground Floor home in the CityPlaceneighbourhood. Thanks to Adrienne for digging up all this research for Train of Thought! (Psst... there might be a few images of train and railways as well!)

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TRAVELLER AND HOST OF THE DAY - ALANA FORSLUND

Alana Forslund is the Executive Director of Thunder Bay's, Community Arts & Heritage Education Project (CAHEP) and a practising visual and textile artist.  She is passionate about using the arts as a means for social inclusion and growing community, and believes in the magical role that art can play in bringing people together to create, collaborate, and dream. Alana was host to Train of Thought in Thunder Bay and then she joined the travelling company from there to Toronto. Jumblies hopes to continue collaborating with Alana and CAHEP in the coming year. 

"What was something memorable and meaningful about the journey?" "Hearing people in so many different communities speak about the importance of this journey; how it is creating hope for the future. I loved reconnecting with areas of Northern Ontario that were so familiar to me from family journeys taken when I was a child.  We were fortunate to receive so many shared stories and teachings, both from fellow travellers, and from members of the communities we visited.  I loved seeing familiar areas in a new light.  The warmth and openness of everyone still resonates in me.  I also loved hearing the cries of loons and the hooting of owls during our Full Moon Ceremony at Kegos Camp." "How will it make a difference to your work and life?" "I left the journey feeling so encouraged and renewed.  I know that this is just the first ripple of many great things to come.  Meeting so many folks on this journey who have such strong spirit and drive has been so inspiring.  I'm bringing back feelings of lightness, fullness, and desire to learn more about the untold stories in my own community.   This is something that will echo in me for the rest of my life."

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HOST OF THE DAY - CLARKE MACKEY

Yesterday we featured one of our key Kingston Train of Thought hosts  - Lib Spry. Today we are proud to acknowledge the other: Clarke Mackey has been pushing at the boundaries between art producers and consumers for over four decades. Starting in the early 1970s when he received several “Artist in the Schools” grants from Ontario Arts Council to work with Aboriginal children and prison inmates, Clarke has been researching and practicing what he calls “vernacular culture”. He has worked as a director, cinematographer, editor, producer or writer on over 50 film, television and new media projects.  His book, Random Acts of Culture: Reclaiming Art and Community in the 21st Century, was published in 2010. Clarke teaches in the Department of Film and Media at Queen’s University. He has been a supportive colleague of Jumblies for many years and is now sparking a new community arts organization in Kingston called Makers and Shakers.

"There were many highlights and memorable moments during the Train of Thought visit in Kingston but, for me, the most rewarding part was meeting, getting to know, and collaborating with members of the Kingston Indigenous community. Without Train of Thought, I¹m not sure I would have reached out to these individuals. I sincerely hope that we can find other ways to work together in the future."

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TRAVELLER OF THE DAY - LIB SPRY

As Train of Thought gradually comes to an end (at least for now), we will continue to feature a Traveller and/or Host or two per day for a while, in order to acknowledge more of the many key people who helped make it all possible. One of these is Lib Spry: both our Kingston Host and fellow Traveller from Kahnawake to Abegweit. Lib has been a director, writer, teacher, performer, producer and translator for fifty years. She works mainly in non-traditional theatre: popular, community, site-specific and physical theatre and theatre for young audiences (TYA). She is a recognized teacher of Theatre of the Oppressed. She has founded and run three theatre companies: Theatre Agile, Passionate Balance and with Shirley Barrie the award-winning Straight Stitching Productions. Lib is currently undertaking doctoral studies at Queen's University.

"The highlight for me was the bringing together of a wonderful group of Katarokwi/ Kingston Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal artists and community people, some of whom heard about the event and just turned up and others who worked hard and long to make it work and then sharing with the travellers. Meeting old and new friends and colleagues and hearing their stories of their work has given me new energy and tools as well as clarifying what I want to do."

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Train of Thought in Epekwitk(PEI)

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TRAVELLER OF THE DAY - MAGDALENA JENNINGS

Magdalena Jennings lives in Bonn, Germany, and Annapolis Royal, NS. When she isn't teaching ESL in Europe, Magdalena is rounding off her BA in German and Contemporary Studies with studies in English, history, and French. She loves to sing in small ensembles, play board games, hear and tell stories, and learn languages, and would very much like to be a real teacher some day. Magdalena has been implicated in Jumblies affairs since she was sixteen. She jumped into the Halifax Train of Thought activities and then travelled on with us to the Deanery Project in Ship Harbour.

"Waves of people come ashore on Train of Thought. And all the little bits and pieces we bring - all the memories, stories, words and songs - get taken up and polished and carefully treasured by this wonderful community." 

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Braiden tastes his first lobster, at the Abegweit welcoming feast!

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HOST OF THE DAY - MIKE HIRSCHBACH

We are so grateful to our wonderful Halifax Circus host - Mike Hirschbach. Mike has been a circus artist for 35 years. He performed from 2001-2003 with the Cirque du Soleil’s touring show “Dralion.” From 2003 – 2005 he was a Master Trainer with the Cirque’s social outreach program, Cirque du Monde. He traveled the world training the trainers in the existing Cirque du Monde programs in Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Montreal, Toronto, South Africa and Burkina Faso. He now works full-time as founding director of Halifax Circus - offering social circus programming, public circus arts classes and professional performances. Mike first struck up a relationship with Jumblies in 2005, when he came to lead a series of clown workshops with artists and community members, and has since then collaborated on several workshops in Toronto and Halifax. Mike produced the spectacular Train of Thought grand finale at the Halifax Train Station, has made the Halifax Circus premises available to our project this entire weekend (including commercial kitchen, Out-of-the-Cold beds and circus performance gym), and will travel with us at least to the Deanery on June 21st.

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