THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE Festival Guide by thirdspacegallery

TABLE OF CONTENTS From Third Space................................................................................3 Welcome to Third Shift: Traverse...................................................4 GUIDE TO ARTWORKS..............................................................................6 MAP.....................................................................................................12 Sponsors & SPECIAL THANKS.............................................................23 SCHEDULE............................................................................BACK COVER

ACCESSIBILITY NOTES Please visit thirdshiftsj.com/traverse-accessibility (or scan the QR code below) for up-to-date accessibility notes.

Cover art and poster by Jud Crandall Program design by Neil Bonner Map by Lindsay Jacquard THIRD SPACE GALLERY STAFF Executive Director: Kathleen Buckley Festival Associate: Neil Bonner Digital Media Associate: Rose Cusack 2

from THIRD SPACE As Saint John’s only artist-run centre, Third Space Gallery is committed to facilitating the education, understanding, and appreciation of contemporary art within the city and the wider community. Without a traditional gallery space, Third Space partners with professional organizations and businesses to present contemporary art in non-traditional spaces. THIRD SHIFT is one of many projects that the gallery undertakes: a signature public art festival, launched in 2015, to give citizens an opportunity to engage with contemporary art and re-imagine their city. Originally conceived as a one-night-only event, THIRD SHIFT soon grew into a festival with several days of programming. In 2020, the festival expanded further to include digital art such as animations, virtual performances, and short films. THIRD SHIFT invites participants to have new experiences in otherwise familiar spaces through temporary installations, performances, and interventions — on the streets of Uptown Saint John, and now online. THIRD SHIFT offers an opportunity to reconsider and engage with the natural and built environment in what we now know as Saint John. The land on which THIRD SHIFT takes place is the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples. This territory is covered by the “Treaties of Peace and Friendship” which Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples first signed with the British crown in 1725. The treaties did not deal with the surrender of lands and resources but, in fact, recognized Indigenous sovereign title and established the rules for what was to be an ongoing, equitable, reciprocal, and respectful relationship between nations — a relationship that Third Space strives to uphold. On behalf of Third Space Gallery and its Board of Directors, I am delighted to welcome you to THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE — our first festival year to be graced with a guiding theme. The pandemic has presented a myriad of challenges, but our team has truly risen to the challenge and the festival is all the better for it. Whether online or in person, thank you for supporting and experiencing this wonderful festival. Lindsay Jacquard Board President Third Space Gallery 3

WELCOME TO THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE features over 20 temporary public art installations created by artists from Saint John and beyond. The theme TRAVERSE grew out of my discussions with Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier—THIRD SHIFT’s artist in residence—about her work and its relationship to loss and grief. For THIRD SHIFT, Indigo presents Being Without, an audiovisual installation that procedurally generates music from photographs. This theme of life and loss is also explored in Graeme Stewart-Robertson’s light installation, Fallowed Ground, where a pathway of light ascends a grassy hill toward the site of the now-demolished General Hospital, where many lives began and many were lost. Nat Cann’s Stelae, a series of wooden monuments, pays homage to other lost sacred spaces and buildings in Saint John, such as the Gothic Arches. Similarly, in Frames of Fire, Nathan Merrithew & John Marshall reflect on the community impact of the Great Fire of Saint John by constructing a passageway in the abstracted triangular form of a tent in King’s Square. Amid considering Saint John’s significant architectural transformations over the past century, Amelia Bailey’s Looking Glass allows viewers to contemplate what remains the same through archival images superimposed on Saint John’s built landscape. The history of physical traversal in the region is further explored by Blake Creamer, who, in Transported Landscapes, highlights the movement of plants across territories and through history, and Sarah Jones, who in traverse/cross/bridge/commute reminds us of the long history of people traversing the Saint John Harbour. Christiana Myers’ PLANT A FLAG challenges the colonial, patriarchal, and ableist worldviews that we hold as we navigate our urban landscape. In a labour of stitches, Lacey Decker Hawthorne draws on the Greek myth of Penelope and Odysseus—Penelope weaving each night of his absence, as he endeavours to sail home—to parallel the traditionally masculinized labour of work at sea and the historically feminized labour of sewing. Through a contemporary lens, Adam Hill, in Music for the End of Airports, presents a video projection that examines our relationship with travel in the wake of pandemic-related restrictions and climate change. Julie Whitenect’s out-door-gathering, a series of free-standing sculptures and animations of people stuck in a place of waiting, highlights moments of rest during travel and our everyday commutes. Colleen MacIsaac and The Villains Theatre echo these interrogations of productivity in their digital interac4

tive performance / zine, SHORTCUTS, in asking “what do we miss out on in our quest for maximum efficiency?” Over the past year and a half, travel has been limited and a lot of time has been spent at home. SHELF LIFE by Carmen Belanger & Devin Chambers brings to life the banal objects and sentimental ephemera of indoor life. Florence Yee’s SEEKING was created during lockdown and uses posters and the language of wanted ads to explore the desire for personal connection and incite contemplation of what might be possible. This longing for connection is further explored in Patrick Allaby’s first-person comic, Deeper Understanding, which bridges digital and physical relationships in the transition into a post-pandemic world. Trophy’s Remixed is an at-home listening party that traverses the boundary of physical and digital experience. Their interactive performance asks “what are you willing to do to make change in our world?” Many THIRD SHIFT artists explore the idea of personal traversal, documenting the experience of living through change. John Wasonga, Muthomi Ngeranwa and Caroline Ngorobi in their video performance, MADNESS, use futuristic shoes to inquire about personal histories of passersby in Mombasa, Kenya, calling on viewers to reflect on the ways we walk through life. Emily Saab explores her own family’s history in Swift Water Return, recalling her father’s traversal—and later her own— into the Reversing Falls. I-Click Photography, a project facilitated by the Teen Resource Centre, presents the perspectives and stories of eight local youth. Nazanin Oghanian’s film I am 164cm. ‫ نم‬۱۶۴‫رتم‌یتناس‬ traverses time, language, and media to peel back the layers of control related to the medicalization of the artist’s body. In Resonance New Music’s presentation of Reengage (2021), four distanced musicians play together across a large resonant space, reminding us of the power of connection even when apart. THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE aims to create bridges and form connections between disparate ideas, various artistic media, and distinct personal experiences. We are thrilled to welcome you to this year’s iteration of THIRD SHIFT and we hope your experience with the festival is marked with curiosity and excitement. Kathleen Buckley Executive Director Third Space Gallery 5

THIRD SHIFT

E S R E TR A V GUIDE TO ARTWORKS

PATRICK ALLABY - DEEPER UNDERSTANDING

Ink drawing // Ongoing // Rainbow Park Deeper Understanding is a first-person comic addressed to a friend I’ve never met, and who I know only through their online persona. Throughout the pandemic I’ve entered so many one-sided friendships with people who post more than I do. These people that have had a major impact on my life in the past year are people I know nearly exclusively through their online persona. Mostly these friendships emerge from shared interests in music, film, or TV. Deeper Understanding is named after a 1989 Kate Bush song about someone who falls in love with their computer. With the end of the pandemic nearer and nearer, I have been trying to imagine what going back to normal will really look like. Deeper Understanding is an attempt at starting fresh.

I S s S o t n P o r c t T r t

Patrick Allaby (he/him) is a graphic novelist living in Sackville, NB. His work often focuses on illness and capitalism, and their intersection. His first book, Martin Peters, was published by Conundrum Press in 2019. His second, The Water Lover, was released by Conundrum Press in May.

AMELIA BAILEY - LOOKING GLASS

Installation // Ongoing // King’s Square, Barbour’s General Store, Boardwalk Looking Glass comprises several photographic installations across what is now known as the Uptown area of Saint John. The landscape photos, curated from the New Brunswick Museum Archives, date as far back as 1865. They are printed onto a transparent panel, which lines up with the current landscape to create an overlay effect. While the viewer’s eyes traverse through the image, they are also transported back in time. Amelia Bailey (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist who focuses on making meaningful connections through creativity. She received her Foundation Visual Arts diploma in 2021 through the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design, and currently works at Paris Crew Gallery in Uptown Saint John.

CARMEN BELANGER & dEVIN CHAMBERS - SHELF LIFE

Multimedia Installation // Fri Aug 20 11am - 2pm // City Market

SHELF LIFE is not your typical #shelfie. Everyday objects on a shelf—a still life of Belanger’s belongings—have been transformed into familiar yet unidentifiable forms. This ambiguous composition comes to life through projection mapping. For this project, the video and audio has been generated from a series of recorded conversations in which participants were encouraged to discuss their experiences of loneliness. Belanger and Chambers are interested in the intersection of real and digital versions—IRL and virtual meetings. SHELF LIFE contemplates the chaos and comfort of our private spaces. Carmen Belanger (she/her) is from Prince Edward Island. She received a BA in Performance from the University of the West of Scotland (2011) and a BFA in Ceramics from the Alberta University of the Arts (2020). She makes work in response to the objects and rituals of the everyday. Devin Chambers (he/him) is from Alberta. He received a BFA from NSCAD University in 2019. He is interested in interactive work, relational aesthetics, and the intersection of art and technology. Belanger and Chambers have collaborated on several projects before—Belanger designs objects and Chambers develops digital environments. They delve into experimental sound design and explore fragmented realities.

T b S t b a i T p m g r h s o

Nat Cann - STELAE

Installation // Ongoing // King’s Square Stelæ are monuments, or perhaps gravesites, to forlorn grounds, institutions and once grand steads of Saint John that have been discarded for the needs of industries and economics. Stelæ investigates three separate spaces of community interest: derelict homes at the edge of Saint John’s boundaries, and the demolitions of Waterloo Street’s Anglin House (2019) and the Gothic Arches (2020), places that people dream(t) of buying and turning into quaint businesses, yet now exist as emptied lots, half-constructed developments, or shabby ruins. Placed at the foot of each printed cairn rests an offering formed from materials reminiscent of said spaces, a replacement for floral sacraments one might find at a gravestone. The stele regarding the 2019 demolition of Anglin House carries an offering and commentary on the city’s past splendor and current economic dithering, whereas the stele of ruined abodes loitering just outside Saint John’s limits (as set by Cheryl Johnson), hearkens to what still stands. The final stele cradling the image of the now demolished Gothic Arches and its associated re-development, holds a sacrament through audience offerings, be they tokens of appreciation, memorabilia, or emblems of aspirations for what might’ve been. Nat Cann (he/him) is a Canadian artist of settler ancestry. Since graduating from Mount Allison University, and becoming the New Brunswick provincial winner of the 2012 BMO 1st Art Prize, Nat has enjoyed exhibiting work across Canada in public galleries, artist-run centers, and workshops dabbling in assemblage, experimental printmaking and critical inspections of heritage. Such ideas have been explored from coast to coast via residencies and workshops in lands both fantastic and remote. Nat now resides in Saint John, New Brunswick, on the traditional lands of the Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq Peoples where he currently instructs workshops in printmaking at the Saint John Arts Centre.

BLAKE CREAMER - TRANSPORTED LANDSCAPES

Installation // Ongoing // Charlotte St. Parking Lot Transported Landscapes is a collection of planted mounds that reconstruct the historic ballast piles of the former Intercolonial Ballast Wharf. On the site of the former Sugar Refinery Site in Saint John’s South End, ship ballast in the form of bricks, pottery, stones or other material used to weigh down ships were dumped, contributing to the infilling of the land. Local botanist George Upham Hay (1843-1913) began exploring the contents of the ballast materials, collecting potentially invasive plant species from among the mounds; so-called “accidental introductions” arriving from around the world. Transported Landscapes presents five curated collections of these historic ballast species planted in soil and infill material from the Former Ballast Wharf site. It highlights the movement of plants across territories and through history by considering the seeding success, growth, and resilience of selected species and their interaction with the local landscape. Many remain as weeds in our city, some have become naturalized in New Brunswick, and others have disappeared from this region following their initial collection. Transported Landscapes speaks to landscape as a cultural product that unfolds and transforms over time, emphasizing our history and ability to construct, transform, and transport landscapes. Blake Creamer (he/him) holds a Master of Landscape Architecture from the University of Toronto and works at Glenn Group Landscape Architects and Park Planners in Fredericton, designing innovative spaces for living, playing and engaging with New Brunswick’s natural landscape. Blake’s work explores the interactions between cultural and ecological materials, supporting the power of landscape to engage and transform communities. He is driven by his connection to his hometown of Menagoesg/Saint John and believes in the strength of interpreting historical narratives through design as a method of increasing exposure and interest in New Brunswick’s rich cultural past.

LACEY DECKER HAWTHORNE - A LABOUR OF STITCHES

Textile Sculpture // Ongoing // Queen Square a labour of stitches connects the traditionally public masculinized labour of work at sea and the historically private feminized labour of sewing and domestic making. Two 15-foot sails hang back to back from a tree, one white sail quilted in red thread, the other sail red stitched in white. These sails make an enclosure between them where a visitor can stand inside and feel the wind billowing around them. This sensation recalls both the sense of being at sea on a sailboat and that of being inside sheets and quilts at night. a labour of stitches uses the common material of cloth to join the ideas of travel by sea and travel by night in sleep, and to equate the value of these two uses and their making. Lacey Decker Hawthorne (she/her) is an interdisciplinary artist working in installation, textiles, writing, and research. She earned her BA from Memorial University of Newfoundland, and her MA at Oxford Brookes University, UK and studied letterpress printing at the Bodleian Library, copper-plate etching at East London Printmakers, the Crown Point Press, and Ground Zero Printmakers. She has participated in residencies in North Wales and Canada, and published creative research on narrative medicine. Her work has been exhibited in Canada, the UK, Japan, and France. She currently lives and works in Sackville, NB, on the unceded lands of the Mi’kmaq peoples.

ADAM HILL - MUSIC FOR THE END OF AIRPORTS

Audio/Video // Sun Aug 22, 2pm-5pm // City Market In June 2020, my father-in-law died suddenly. Living in the midst of pandemic-related travel restrictions, only my wife travelled across the country to handle family affairs. In the airports along the way, she captured video scenes of emptiness and isolation for me. These massive hubs of transportation, normally bustling and buzzing, had been left lonesome. The flight path to Charlottetown Airport lies directly above my house, and I’ve witnessed over the past year the nearly constant hum of air travel dwindle to a single daily flight. Global health crises aside, over the past 25 years shrinking sources of fossil fuels have increased the price of jet fuel fourfold, signalling that the golden age of airplane travel may be ending. Music for the End of Airports explores our relationship to air travel in an age of climate change. The sound design utilizes samples of jet engines and airport bustle, altered through granular synthesis to create textured layers that pay homage to the pioneers of ambient music. The piece asks us to reflect on the idea of air travel and to imagine a life where hopping on a jet and traversing the globe may no longer be possible. Adam Hill (he/him) is a sound artist living in Charlottetown. He has received awards and grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, SCI/ASCAP, the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation, the Sitka Centre for Art and Ecology, and the Brush Creek Foundation for the Arts. His work has been presented and installed at the Charlottetown Film Festival (PE), Visible Verse Festival (BC), New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NY), Sonic Boom Festival (BC), New Horizons Music Festival (MO), Electroacoustic Barn Dance (FL), and the Murau International Music Festival (AUT), among others. He holds a doctorate from UBC and currently teaches at Holland College.

I-ClICK PHOTOGRAPHY - MIDDLE GROUND

Photography // Ongoing // City Market Seating Area This group is made up of 8 youth using their voices to express their views of our community and the role they play within it. We are invited to learn about their experiences and understand our city from their lens. The Teen Resource Centre, the Saint John Arts Centre, and the University of New Brunswick are working together this year to run the I-Click Photography

program. This project is meant to provide a glimpse into the realities of the lives of youth, and help others understand the multiple identities that exist within the city. This project creates a space for youth to be in charge of their own stories, and represent the strengths and challenges they feel are important for others to know. Youth have the opportunity to work alongside professional photographers and TRC staff in order to take photographs and build a portrait of our communities from their perspectives. This year, our exhibit, called Middle Ground, focuses on exploring cultural identity and the experience of growing up between worlds. The goal is for their photographs to be shared widely in order to promote youth voices and support their efforts to affect change in a meaningful way.

Sarah Jones - traverse/cross/bridge/commute

Installation // Ongoing // City Hall Bus Stop Beginning in the City Hall bus stop, this project responds to the history of Wolastoq/St. John River as a site of traversing. Archival imagery of the harbour and traditional words of greeting remind viewers of historical efforts to traverse/cross/bridge significant natural barriers, pointing to the role of both small-scale and large-scale efforts to maintain interconnectedness and interdependence between communities. The project then continues on select buses. Sarah Jones (she/her) is a contemporary artist, art historian and curator. Her art practice explores interactions with manufactured and industrial landscapes through painting and installation. She is particularly interested in historical representations of Maritime landscape in art, and how Maritime cities and local industrial heritage contribute to notions of regional identity. Sarah has participated in solo and group exhibitions across Canada and abroad, and her work is held in the public collections of the University of New Brunswick and the New Brunswick Art Bank. She is a recipient of numerous grants and awards, including funding from ArtsNB and Canada Council for the Arts. Sarah co-founded Jones Gallery in 2018, a contemporary art gallery in Saint John, NB, with a mandate to advocate and provide professional and collaborative exhibition opportunities for emerging Atlantic Canadian artists, and currently serves as the gallery’s curator. Sarah has a BA from the University of New Brunswick (2007) and a MA in Art History from Queen’s University (2009). Of settler ancestry, she is currently based in Saint John, NB, a city located on the unceded territory of the Wolastoqiyik (Maliseet) and Mi’kmaq Peoples.

COLLEEN MACISAAC & THE VILLAINS THEATRE - SHORTCUTS

Interactive Performance/Zine // Sat Aug 21, 7pm-9pm // Zoom Shortcuts are little acts of defiance. Despite what route we are told we should follow, we use shortcuts to find our own way. Call in with your favourite shortcut and have it turned into a map created live by our team of three helpful assistants. This is a drop in event! You’re welcome to pop in for two minutes, or even stay the full two hours and bear witness to every shortcut! Good for all ages! The event is a Zoom call, but audience members won’t have their mics or cameras on. To call in with your shortcut, we’ll have a screen with a phone number you can dial when our operator is online to give your shortcut live on air! We’re looking for geographical shortcuts, and you can be as specific or as vague as you want. Even imagined shortcuts are welcome! Everyone at the event is invited to submit their address to receive a copy of the processed book of live-drawn shortcut maps in the mail after the show! Colleen MacIsaac (they/she) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Kjipuktuk/Halifax who has worked as a performer, producer, graphic designer, and playwright with companies such as Eastern Front, Matchstick, Lion’s Den, Onelight, Zuppa, 2b, Xara, Terra Novella, Unnatural Disaster, and Workshirt Opera. Colleen’s theatre creations include ‘dark matter’, ‘Cartography’, ‘Mercury’, ‘The Blazing World’, and ‘the effects were cumulative and i almost didn’t notice’. Colleen draws a playwright ev-

ery day (and you can see them on instagram @quietprocess), and this fall they are starting NSCAD University’s interdisciplinary MFA program. Maddie Tench (they/she) started their artistic journey in childhood, performing for friends and family. Now with a Bachelor of Arts degree, and under the Peace and Friendship treaties, Maddie continues to perform, live, and work as a multidisciplinary artist in Kjipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki: the unceded and unsurrendered territory of the Mi’kmaq. Dan Bray (he/him) is a multidisciplinary artist currently living in Antigonish. He is the artistic director of The Villains Theatre, for which he has adapted and directed many shows – most recently the first ever stage adaptation of the British novel, Observatory Mansions.

Nathan MERRITHEW & JOHN MARSHALL - FRAMES OF FIRE

Sculpture // Ongoing // King’s Square This installation recognizes one of the great displacements of the city’s past: “The Great Fire” forced Canada’s first city into several years of transition that occurred on June 20th 1877. Over 1500 buildings burnt to the ground and 600 families were driven out of their homes. The city looked to provide immediate assistance to its residents by establishing temporary tent cities in various locations in the city’s South End. One very prominent location of the teepee style tents was in King Square, which acted not only as a residential refuge for the people of the city but also a center of commerce for many merchants who had lost their establishments in the fire and looked to assist in the city’s recovery. Referencing the shelters of this temporary community, Frames of Fire will use a simple abstracted triangular form of a tent, multiplied 12x over to form a 15-foot-long light and sculpture installation that brings acknowledgement to this tragic period of the city’s past. Each frame will represent the displacement of 50 families during this time. Park patrons will have the ability to pass through this long glowing corridor that brings a reminder to a past period of transition which saw the various neighborhoods of the city come together to help each other provide aid and shelter. Frames of Fire is an installation that symbolizes hope, community and togetherness during a period of transition similar to the one we find ourselves in today. Both hailing from rural New Brunswick, Nathan Merrithew (he/him) and John Marshall (he/him) began working on projects together while completing the Architecture program at Dalhousie University. John is a multi-disciplinary artist / intern-architect from Hampton who has a sculpture and design practice that ranges from wood carvings, custom furniture to the built environment. He uses natural materials, like wood and stone, to influence his design process and transforms these basic elements to create form, function or shelter. John was a participant in the Area 506 festival’s 2017 Cargotecture contest, with his team’s ‘Cargo-Fort’ entry. Nathan is an architect and woodworker that has an interest in art and sculpture that encourages people to use built environments in unique ways. Nathan worked with Dalhousie professor James Forren, to complete ‘Citadel Beacon’, a 2015 installation for Halifax’s Nocturne Festival. Both artists look to explore how design interventions can be used to enhance the everyday experience and to combine art and architecture to allow people to occupy spaces in non-traditional ways.

CHRISTIANA MYERS - PLANT A FLAG

Installation // Thurs Aug 19, 7pm // Trinity Church Lawn, Germain St. A row of fluorescent stake flags indicating a segment of surveyed land is a common sight in Saint John, a city with longstanding industrial history, deep colonial roots, and an economy driven by the development—or at the expense—of its natural environment. These often mysterious markers denote imminent change or unseen underground channels. They are literal and symbolic indicators of the manipulation of the environment, and are positioned in order to map the most efficient human routes through the landscape. The relationship to the land established by early settlers to Canada’s east coast began with

deliberate domination, the effects of which are still felt through the commodification of movement within the landscape—whether through industrial ventures, harmful gentrification, exploitative tourism, or toxic fitness culture. These desires, driven by mentalities that seek to conquer over, measure against, or compete with the natural world are firmly rooted in colonial, patriarchal, and ableist worldviews, and are ways of being that deserve to be challenged as we navigate our urban landscape. Christiana Myers (she/her) is a curator, writer, museum educator, and artist living in Menagoesg/ Saint John, New Brunswick. She holds a BFA from Mount Allison University and a MLitt Curatorial Practice from the Glasgow School of Art. She has undertaken curatorial projects in Atlantic Canada, Montreal, Finland, and Scotland, and now works closely with the New Brunswick Museum and Third Space Gallery. In 2018, she was selected as Canadian Art’s winter editorial resident. Her recent arts writing on disability and access, climate conservation, and ritual have appeared in C Magazine, Visual Arts News, and publications by St. Thomas University and Goose Lane Editions.

NAZANIN OGHANIAN - i am 164cm.

Two-Channel Video // Sat Aug 20, 4pm-6pm // Zoom Patient #17301 – started in 2019, unpacks the layers of control related to the medicalization of my body, through my childhood experience of being treated for ‘precocious puberty’ — pubertal development earlier than clinical normative age. For seven years (from the age of eight to fifteen) I had to go to the hospital precisely every twenty-eight days to receive hormonal injections. I am 164cm. ‫ نم‬۱۶۴‫ سه رتم‌یتناس‬from the Patient #17301 series is a two-channel video, originally installed in the corner of a gallery, with the two projected images sharing the vertical line of the corner. On the left channel, animated scenes are played. They were completed in SketchUp, using virtual warehouse objects as props. The scene attempts to replicate the injection room at the Kosar Hospital in Tehran, Iran, where I received Decapeptyl injections every 28 days between 1998 and 2005. On the right channel, home video footage from the same years (1998-2005) is shown, sourced from a personal family archive. By dividing the video into 9 chapters/parts, I produce a fragmented translation of the medical language and institutionalized environments I was exposed to as a child, and also the objects, sounds and memories that continue to be folded into the narration of my experience. . Nazanin Oghanian (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist and experimental filmmaker whose practice unfolds from critical reflection around notions of the body, identity, gender, memory, politics, and the establishment of a constant dialectic between the individual and the social. Identified as a woman of colour, Nazanin’s recent work explores power relations and the ways in which women’s bodies are controlled through the medicalization of their bodies and reproductive health. She currently lives and works as a guest on unceded and ancestral territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-waututh), and sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) First Nation peoples, otherwise and colonially known as Vancouver. She is a recipient of the BC Binning Memorial Fellowship, and her work has been exhibited across Iran and Canada including AHVA Gallery, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, and Morris And Helen Belkin Art Gallery. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts from the University of British Columbia in 2020.

GUIDE CONTINUES AFTER THE MAP... 11

INDIGO KOMIWONUHKE POIRIER - BEING WITHOUT THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE ARTIST IN RESIDENCE

Music & Installation // See schedule for details // 95 Prince William St. Being Without uses Pure Data, a visual programming language used for multimedia projects, to build a program that converts visual data into procedurally generated music. I’ll be feeding into this program images of and taken by my mother, who passed away last year, as well as images and text submitted by the community of people they’ve loved and lost. The project was inspired by something a friend said to me about how matter and energy cannot be destroyed, but only transformed; so the people we love do live on in our world in some form, even if it’s unrecognizable. My hope is that the images of loved ones, combined with the music generated by the program, will help foster a sense of peace and communion among viewers, as a metaphorical representation of the ways our loved ones continue to exist even after death. Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier (she/her) is a musician and multidisciplinary artist hailing from Kingsclear First Nation, New Brunswick. Her solo music project Wangled Teb was awarded MusicNB’s electronic artist of the year in 2018, and she was awarded Innovator of the Year in 2019. She has performed at festivals across Canada such as Sled Island, POP Montreal, and Saint John’s own Quality Block Party and THIRD SHIFT. When she isn’t working on music you can find her snuggling her cat Lazarus, eating green grapes, or playing video games.

RESONANCE NEW MUSIC - REENGAGE

Musical Composition // Thurs Aug 19, 8pm, 8:30pm, 9pm // Stone Church Reengage is a composition by Andrew Reed Miller for four distanced musicians designed to be performed in a large resonant space. Each players’ ambient melodic material will slowly and casually interact with each other and with the reverberant nature of the space itself.

Resonance has supported the creation and production of experimental music, improvised music, artistic collaborations and new classical music in New Brunswick since its founding in 1998.

EMILY SAAB - SWIFT WATER RETURN

Photography & Sound // See schedule for details // Saint John Firefighter’s Museum Swift Water Return is an installation of photographs and accompanying audio, documenting a performance by Emily Saab. Made in collaboration with photographer Nienke Izurieta and the Saint John Fire Department, Swift Water Return took place at the Reversing Falls, where the Wolastoq River makes its final run through a narrow gorge, colliding with the rising tide of the Bay of Fundy. Evoking reverence, the unforgiving currents have been credited for countless tragedies over the years. During slack tide on August 23rd, 2020, the artist entered the river dressed in workwear, walked until her feet could no longer touch, turned around, and returned to shore. Nearly 30 years prior, the artist’s father, a local firefighter along with his team, rescued a person from drowning in the Reversing Falls, all in simple work attire. Connected to this region through the labour and lives of her familial ancestors, Emily’s work explores the bounds of agency, endurance and transformation. She hopes for this work to honour the common threads connecting those involved in the event— believing there is a shared experience beyond having survived the Falls that day. The artist gratefully acknowledges the support of artsnb in the creation of this project. Emily Saab (she/her) lives in the north end of Saint John with her partner, Jud and their cat, Matokie. In recent years, Emily has been pursuing experiments in performance art, both publicly and for film and video. Graduating with a BFA (focus in sculpture) from Mount Allison in 2011, Emily contin-

ues to work with materials and objects as a complimentary part of her practice. She is descended from European settlers and Lebanese immigrants, who made their home on unceded Wolastoqiyik and Mi’kmaq territory in southern New Brunswick.

GRAEME STEWART-ROBERTSON - FALLOWED GROUND

Installation // Thurs Aug 19 & Fri Aug 20, after dark // Garden Street Park In our era of unrelenting rationality, Fallowed Ground seeks to reestablish the reality of an unseen world amid the rapidly changing face of Saint John. Through the use of free-standing light tubes mounted vertically to the ground in ascending rows, like tombstones or grave markers for departed souls, the steep topography of Garden Street hill will be transformed into a glowing gateway. Owing to the prominence of the site, these columns of lights will be visible from vantage points throughout the area, from quaint city streets to highway offramps. Meanwhile, the public nature of the site will enable visitors to walk alongside the installation, inviting creative photographs, fostering dialogue, and inviting passersby to make their own journey into this transitional space. Politics, economics, and mortality are often seen as the playgrounds of the wealthy and powerful, yet the impact of these games are felt throughout society, nature, and the landscapes around us. Anchored to a hill now associated with a manifestation of human mortality, projected on a backdrop of the unseen, Fallowed Ground is envisioned as a journey of displaced lives, disembodied histories, and discoveries yet to come. Graeme Stewart-Robertson (he/him) is a geographer living in Menahqesk/Menagoesg/Saint John, New Brunswick where he maintains an active artistic practice in photography, geographic representation, and digital imaging. His past THIRD SHIFT installations, Ash from the Machine (Fraxinus ex machina) and Infill have explored the vulnerable and inescapable relationships of colonialism and industrialization, as he continues to challenge audiences to consider how they define both humanity and its role in natural systems. Currently, Graeme works with WWF-International to support the vital role Indigenous communities around the world play in protecting and safeguarding landscapes and seascapes essential to global conservation goals.

TROPHY - REMIXED

Interactive Digital Performance // Sun Aug 22, 7pm-8pm // Online *Registration at Saint John Arts Centre required before Saturday August 21 at 5pm.* Remixed is an at-home listening party, performed across geography and time in a collective experience. Together, we’re listening for the sound of change while connected by our custom web app, the portal into the performance. Remixed gathers true stories of transformation from all over the globe in a personal and multi-faceted meditation on how we instigate change in our lives, in our communities, and in the world. Each listener receives their own playlist of stories and music, personalized just for them by our algorithmic DJ, and a party gift for use during the performance. Each track brings listeners to a storyteller; tucked into kitchens, cozy in living rooms, and overlooking parks, they evoke a sense of place, space, and ethereal presence. Juxtaposing the personal with the collective and the systemic, our polyphonic choir entangles listeners, asking: what are you willing to do to make change in our world? Trophy is an award-winning interdisciplinary creative collective based in Ottawa. Bringing together collaborators and stakeholders from across disciplines, we create porous, vital work that’s rooted in our city and tours nationally and internationally. We’ve created a series of performances and installations that combine principles from visual art, performance art, theatre and social practice. Our work is characterized by modularity and scalability. Our performances have been presented by Intrepid Theatre (Victoria BC), the High Performance Rodeo (Calgary AB), the National Arts Centre (Ottawa ON), and the Dublin Fringe Festival (Ireland), amongst others.

JOHN WASONGA, MUTHOMI NGERANWA, CAROLINE NGOROBI MADNESS

Video // Screening at Jones Gallery, Fri Aug 20, 7pm // Images at Cobalt Art Gallery & Handworks A person’s experience with a pair of shoes is an untold story of journeys taken. Shoe and skin often rub together until they find a way to conform to each other in harmony – or not. As the saying goes, “the shoe wearer knows where it pinches”… MADNESS is an installation of five different futuristic models of shoes, each created from recycled material such as metal wires, old clothes, old shoes and wood. This installation will involve creating the shoes and displaying them to the public on the streets of Mombasa. During this display, we will invite the audience to experience the shoes and attempt to sell them. We will capture our customer’s reactions and experiences as they try on their preferred shoes. The project explores the untold stories and experiences of shoes. Stories of movement, stories of struggle, stories of freedom, triumph and failure, love, hate and joy. These experiences will then be captured in a 30-minute long video. The shoes will transport our audiences into the world of their experiences, and help them relive them. Each shoe will have an aspect of MADNESS as a call to stop and think about our journeys – and our actions on Mother Nature. John Wasonga (he/him) is a multidisciplinary storyteller who creates from his experiences of the world around him, working on transforming his audiences’ view of the world. John is the artistic director at Jukwaa Arts Productions in Mombasa, Kenya. Caroline Ngorobi (she/her) is a theatre producer and performer at Jukwaa Arts Productions. She is a Bakanal De Afrique 2020/21 Fellow. Her work explores the subjects of personal identity, love, gender, taboos and their intersection with popular culture. She is keen on growing and sustaining an empowered community through arts and culture. Muthomi Ngeranwa (he/him) is a 24-year-old multidisciplinary artist who uses paint, ink, canvas, and other material to create his work. He believes in the dynamic power of the arts and its ability to create a long-lasting effect on people. Apart from being a fine artist, he is also a budding musician, sculptor, photographer and a student architect. He is currently on a journey to explore creative partnerships as he creates his artistic space. His inspiration is: There are no beautiful surfaces without dark depths.

JULIE WHITENECT - out-door-gathering

Sculpture // Ongoing // Three Sisters, InterAction Theatre out-door-gathering builds on my recent series turn-out and turn-to-me – a series of silkscreen prints on panels, examining gatherings, groups and goings-on. For THIRD SHIFT: TRAVERSE, I have created life-sized sculptures of my turn-out figures to display throughout the Uptown area. Each sculpture is accompanied and linked to an online animation the viewer/ participant can access via QR code. My interest in this imagery involves a sense of pause. By rearranging and playing with the formation of these figures, I am directing the viewer to interact with the work, to further amplify the separation of the form to the viewer. The audience will consider what has been omitted and why the importance has been placed solely on the figures and not the space they occupy. I am always looking at travelling through space, either by the monuments we leave or the methods we use. Julie Whitenect (she/her) is a printmaker working in Saint John, New Brunswick. Graduating from Mount Allison University in 2014, she has been busy growing her practice, working on commissions, exhibiting locally, nationally, and internationally as well as receiving project grants from the New Brunswick Arts Board and The Canada Council for the Arts. Julie is the Executive Director of ArtsLink NB, and is very engaged in the local arts ecosystem. Her work explores the relationship between natural and constructed environments, exposing the viewer to their dichotomy.

F a t ( M B C

FLORENCE YEE - SEEKING

Poster Series // Ongoing // 18 Canterbury St. SEEKING is a series of playful advertisements in the physical and digital world that ask what individuals may be seeking from their communities. This project was inspired by Nadia Myre’s Want Ads, in which she spray painted graffiti slogans seeking personal connections in the streets of Vancouver in the 1990’s. During a remote mentorship last summer with another emerging artist in Edmonton, Kiona Ligtvoet, we found a common interest in text and its ability to convey desires in a playful manner. Our project consisted of two independent series of posters that we would create and put into the physical world (on phone polls, park billboards, etc.), as well as adapted “real” ads on Kijiji. They would be short and succinct posters that allude to other discussions we’ve been having about seeking our community, seeking an old tradition, seeking a memory, seeking a feeling, seeking justice, etc. The posters function as serendipitous interruptions in quotidian public space, as well as ambiguous calls for action on the part of the viewer. Without a means of response, they are left with their own agency in the matter, as to what should be done about this lack. The poster series is ongoing, evolving to respond to urgent issues. Florence Yee (they/them) is a visual artist and recovering workaholic based in Tkaronto/Toronto and Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. Their practice uses text-based art, sculpture, and textile installation through the intimacy of doubt. Their work has been exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (2021), the Art Gallery of Ontario (2020), the Textile Museum of Canada (2020), and the Gardiner Museum (2019), among others. Along with Arezu Salamzadeh, they have co-founded the Chinatown Biennial in 2020. They are also currently the Co-Director of Tea Base. They obtained a BFA from Concordia University and an MFA from OCAD U.

CARMEL FARAHBAKHSH - Dreaming Inventive Futures

Workshop // Fri Aug 20, Noon // Zoom You’re invited to a space to reimagine our artistic communities, examine the systemic inequities of institutional power systems, (re)understand the power of utilizing creative works as liberatory tools, and discuss the creative sectors responsibility to act as agents of change in response to current global outcries against injustice. We discuss ways to move from tokenism to relationships of mutuality and trust, examine tangible ways to redistribute organisational power and further uplift and platform historically marginalized stories/experiences. Although we may participate and contribute to artistic and activist spaces, we are no less inclined to perpetuate and mimic systems of power and domination. We hope that this dialogue can catalyze further personal and inter-community work to continue to dream fuller, sustainable, representative, equitable, and inventive creative spaces locally and beyond. Carmel Farahbakhsh (they/them) is a community worker/educator, experimental violinist, and arts maker. They have collaborated on The Khyber Centre For The Arts board for over three years and enjoy working as the co-director of Kjipuktuk (Halifax) based music festival EVERYSEEKER. They recently transitioned from a five year term coordinating South House Sexual and Gender Resource Centre to working as the executive director at the Youth Project-- seeing a direct link between this community work and access to creative spaces/ arts community. Carmel also actively collaborates with local initiatives with the aim to create wider 2SQTBIPOC support systems locally.

Canterbury Dental Clinic Cobalt Art Gallery Handworks Gallery Imperial Theatre Jones Gallery L’Arche Saint John - Creative Connections Market Square Port City Production Co. Saint John City Market Saint John Firefighters Museum Saint John Tool Library Saint John Transit Stone Church Trinity Anglican Church Uncorked Tours

: T F I H S E D R I TH E R S H E D U LE S C ☽ TR A V

THURSDAY AUGUST 19

FRIDAY AUGUST 20

Swift Water Return - Emily Saab 10am - Noon, 1pm-4pm Saint John Firefighters’ Museum

Swift Water Return - Emily Saab 10am - Noon, 1pm-4pm Saint John Firefighters’ Museum Being Without - Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier 6pm - 9pm 95 Prince William St.

SHELF LIFE - Carmen Belanger & Devin Chambers 11am - 2pm @ Saint John City Market Dreaming Inventive Futures Carmel Farahbakhsh Noon @ Zoom*

PLANT A FLAG - Christiana Myers 7pm @ Trinity Church Lawn, Germain St.

MADNESS - John Wasonga et al. 7pm - 8pm @ Jones Gallery

Reengage - Resonance New Music 8pm, 8:30pm, 9pm @ Stone Church

Being Without - Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier 7pm - 9pm @ 95 Prince William St.

Saturday AUGUST 21 Artist Talk - Blake Creamer 10am - 11am @ Zoom*

SUNDAY AUGUST 22 Swift Water Return - Emily Saab 10am - 2pm @ Saint John Firefighters’ Museum

Swift Water Return - Emily Saab 10am - 2pm @ Saint John Firefighters’ Museum Being Without - Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier Noon - 3pm @ 95 Prince William St. I am 164cm. Screening and Talk Nazanin Oghanian 4pm @ Zoom* (headphones and laptop recommended) SHORTCUTS - Colleen MacIsaac & The Villains’ Theatre 7pm - 9pm @ Zoom*

Artist Talk - John Wasonga 10am @ Zoom* Music for the End of Airports Adam Hill 2pm - 5pm @ Saint John City Market Being Without - Indigo Komiwonuhke Poirier 6pm-8pm @ 95 Prince William St. REMIXED - Trophy 7pm online. Register at Saint John Arts Centre before August 21 at 5pm.

Artist Talk - Lacey Decker Hawthorne 9:30pm on Local 107.3FM

*All Zoom events will use Meeting ID 862 059 1126.