Alumni

  • Celebrating creativity and diversity in Niagara with SAFRAN 2024

    Saturday, April 06, 2024 | By

    Image caption: Brock Professor Jean Ntakiturimana of Modern Languages, Literatures & Cultures, (right) at the Sunday morning long table about the world of publishing, hosted by Binta Wague of les Éditions Touana (Toronto , centre-right, in green). 

    Brock University recently welcomed the Salon du livre des Francophonies du Niagara (SAFRAN) 2024 for a diverse and dynamic weekend of events and performances celebrating literary creativity and diversity in the Niagara region.

    Hosted by Brock’s Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (STAC) and Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures (MLLC) in collaboration with SOFIFRAN, the event was held from March 21 to 24 at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, with an opening ceremony at the Film House in the First Ontario Performing Arts Centre. With the important collaboration of the Maison de la culture francophone du Niagara, the event coincided with the UNESCO World Poetry Day, World Puppetry Day and International Francophonie Day.

    Director of the Salon du livre and MLLC Instructor, Nafée Faigou, hosting the opening ceremonies at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre.

    “It’s been an absolutely remarkable celebration of language and culture, beautifully led and produced by Director of the Salon du livre, Nafée Faigou and Fété Ngira-Batware Kimpiobi, Director General of SOFIFRAN,” said Professor David Vivian, Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture. “Our learning community is so much richer for having hosted SAFRAN.”

    Guests and community members from the Niagara Francophone community and beyond were treated to a diverse offering of cultural interactions including entertaining and thoughtful puppet shows by Le chemin qui marche from Quebec, workshops for youth on robotics and AI and compelling roundtable discussions  in the MIWSFPA venues.

    A highlight was the publisher’s fair in the MIWSFPA lobby, igniting important long-table discussions amongst publishers and authors that celebrated the Francophonie of the region, including both Franco-Ontarian and new Franco-Canadian voices.

    For more information about the event, please visit the STAC website.

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  • ‘Someone Lives Here’ – Free Community Screening and Panel Discussion

    Friday, November 17, 2023 | By

    SOMEONE LIVES HERE – Free Community Screening & Panel Discussion
    presented by Rad Snax and hosted by the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts

    Saturday, November 18, 7:00 pm

    Marilyn I Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts
    15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines, ON L2R 0B5,
    Room MWS 156.

    Ground level with elevator and accessible washrooms. Event is free. No childcare. If you have additional accessibility needs, please reach out to us.

    ******************************************

    Throughout the COVID pandemic, Toronto has seen a catastrophic increase in homelessness. Sick of seeing his city unable to care for its unhoused people, Khaleel Seivwright quit his job as a full-time carpenter and dedicated himself to building insulated shelters—called “tiny shelters.”

    Innovatively using body temperature for heating, Khaleel’s efforts garnered international media attention, leading Toronto to propose a possible partnership—only to reverse its decision a week later.

    Capturing the ups and downs of Khaleel’s brilliant intervention, Someone Lives Here also features the voices of those experiencing homelessness, including the articulate and philosophical Taka. The film poignantly captures the City of Toronto’s costly $1.9 million clearance of Toronto’s park encampments, asking all the right questions: What makes Toronto unable and unwilling to address this humanitarian crisis? Why are people like Khaleel being prevented from trying to find solutions?

    Who do we prioritize in this city? A sobering and maddening watch.
    Film description by Hot Docs programmer Aisha Jamal.

    https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27366407/

    Winner – Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2023

    Winner – Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, 2023

    —- This presentation is organized by Rad Snax with the participation of community partners.

    Guests include Khaleel Seivwright who will participate in a panel discussion after the film with:

    Patty Krawec, an indigenous author and activist, moderator

    https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/2107428931725

    Alicia Marshall, a local social service provider and advocate for unhoused folks
    https://twitter.com/Aliciaadvocate

    Sabrina Shawana, Anishinaabe Nation, Eagle Clan, tireless advocate for her People, and who established the Strong Water Singers in 2015.

    Brock grad and researcher Sarah Lukaszczyk, who has just returned from the Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness conference, previously with Housing Help Centre, and who has written about the City of St. Catharines rhetoric of compassion, exposing participation in the Compassionate Cities movement as hollow municipal marketing.

    among others.

    See the FB posting for more info: https://fb.me/e/1ANjJFyH9

    Approximately 100 people participated in the evening program.  Seen below (l-r) are Sarah Lukaszczyk, Alicia Marshall, Khaleel Seivwright, Sabrina Shawana and moderator Patty Krawec during the post-screening discussion. Thank-you to Hilary of Game Theory Films for the opportunity to share this film with the community.

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  • STAC at the Makerspace with workshops to teach creative technologies skills

    Sunday, November 05, 2023 | By

    Makerspace Assistant and fourth-year Studies in Arts and Culture student Christy Mitchell removes a model from a 3D printer. The Brock community is invited to participate in an Intro to 3d Printing workshop on Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m. in the Makerspace.

    published in the Brock News on Friday 03, November 2023

    The Brock University Library Makerspace is providing students, staff and faculty with opportunities to develop new skills in 3D printing, modelling and animation as well as podcasting through a series of upcoming introductory workshops.

    The free in-person sessions, held in RFP 203, are intended to help participants build their confidence working with 3d Studio Max, a professional 3D modelling, animation and rendering application, and Blender, an open-source 3D creation suite.

    “All of the workshops teach participants from scratch,” says Makerspace Technician and Facilitator Zak Mason. “No previous experience is required; however, for optimal learning, we recommended participants commit to doing both in the same week when sessions are offered in two parts.”

    Also offered this semester are drop-in times for miniature painting and musical jam sessions.

    “Come hang out with like-minded people and make some new friends,” says Mason. “We supply everything you need except the appetite to learn new skills.”

    Upcoming workshops include:

    Introduction to Podcasting

    • Monday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m.
    • Monday, Nov. 20 at 11 a.m.
    • Monday, Dec. 4 at 11 a.m.

    3D Modelling in Blender – A two-part series

    • Part 1: Tuesday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 2: Wednesday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 1: Tuesday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 2: Wednesday, Nov. 29 at 1 p.m.

    Introduction to 3d Studio Max

    • Part 1: Tuesday, Nov. 7 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 2: Wednesday, Nov. 8 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 1: Tuesday, Dec. 5 at 1 p.m.
    • Part 2: Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 1 p.m.

    Introduction to 3D printing

    • Tuesday, Nov. 21 at 1 p.m.

    Miniature Model Painting

    • Friday, Nov. 17 at 1 p.m.
    • Friday, Dec. 1 at 1 p.m.

    Jam Sessions

    • Thursdays Nov. 9, 16, 23, 30 and Dec. 7 starting at 1:30 p.m.

    To learn more or to register for a workshop visit ExperienceBU.

    Drop-in hours are from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday to Friday.

    Additional learning resources, such as self-directed tutorials and an online tour of the Makerspace, are available on the Brock University Library Makerspace website.

    Questions about workshops and the Makerspace can be emailed to makerspace@brocku.ca

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  • Join us on Nov. 2 for Lan ‘Florence’ Yee: Sharper Tools for Unripe Fruit

    Sunday, October 29, 2023 | By

    Image: Lan ‘Florence’ Yee

    Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture and Walker Cultural Leader Series:

    Lan ‘Florence’ Yee: Sharper Tools for Unripe Fruit

    Online and onsite artist talk
    STAC 2P93 — Critical Practice in the Fine & Performing Arts
    Thursday, Nov. 2 from 7 to 9 p.m.

    Spanning media from textiles to signage, Lan “Florence” Yee’s interdisciplinary practice uses text and labour-intensive creation. Inspired by the socio-political and personal history of Cantonese displacement, Lan explores what Desmond Wong calls “the intersection of filiality and arrival.”

    The public is invited to join us in MWS 156 to attend Lan Yee’s virtual presentation or to join us on zoom.
    Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine & Performing Arts
    Art and Val Fleming Smart Presentation Classroom
    MWS 156, MIWSFPA , 15 Artists’ Common, St. Catharines

    The presentation is also available to view online,
    please register ahead of time via Zoom.

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  • Derek Knight: PLACES, A Flâneur’s Eye opens October 27 at the MIWSFPA

    Monday, October 23, 2023 | By

    Photo credit: Derek J.J. Knight, Gaston Lachaise, Floating Figure, 1927 (cast 1935), Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Sculpture Garden, Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA (© dk 2018).

    Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture presents

    Derek Knight: PLACES, A Flâneur’s Eye
    October 27, 2023 to January 13, 2024

    Exhibition opening: Friday, October 27 from 5 to 7 p.m.
    Museum in the Hallway / Boîte-en-valise
    (2nd floor by the Theatre entrance), MIWSFPA
    15 Artists Common, St. Catharines

    Museums and galleries draw prestige from their architecture, geographic locale or historical significance, while compelling works of art, performances, and public expressions of creativity galvanize the diversity of art both within sanctioned institutional spaces and the ‘non-spaces’ that have the capacity to take on resonance.

    Derek Knight: PLACES, A Flâneur’s Eye documents Knight’s museum visits over the last decade in North America and Europe.

    Curators: Catherine Parayre and David Vivian
    Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture

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  • STAC graduate creating change through art

    Wednesday, July 05, 2023 | By

    Brock graduate Justus Duntsch (BA ‘17) is pictured above alongside Nancy Edmonstone, a local artist and regular participant in the Art Me Up program. 

    [written by Charles Kim for Surgite Magazine, Spring 2023]

    When graduates of Brock’s Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA) head off into the world, they do so with plans to make their mark in the arts community. Some have gone on to create successful theatre groups or perform their music in front of crowds of thousands. Others have showcased their work in, or even curated, popular art exhibitions around the globe.

    Justus Duntsch (BA ’17) is using his art to spark difficult conversations and to support some of Niagara’s most vulnerable residents.

    The Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (STAC) graduate has developed his career with the wellness and development of the Niagara community in mind.

    He strives to be the change he wants to see in the world. “Where do you start when you want to make the world a better place? It must start with you. It has to be genuine,” Duntsch says. “I think the best way is to speak with your actions.”

    “Where do you start when you want to make the world a better place?
    It must start with you.”
    – Justus Duntsch –

    Along with sitting on and chairing a variety of community arts committees since graduation, Duntsch has spent time working with Start Me Up Niagara, which supports individuals facing significant life changes and provides them with opportunities to stabilize, participate and grow.

    The organization offers services and programming to those facing challenges such as poverty, homelessness, unemployment, disabilities, addictions and mental health issues.

    Through the ‘Art Me Up Niagara’ program, Duntsch helps participants to express their past and present through the exploration of multidisciplinary arts in a safe studio environment.

    His work with Start Me Up Niagara has also led to his latest arts project, Before the Barriers, which reflects on the many people who took their own lives at the Burgoyne Bridge in St. Catharines from 2018 to 2019.

    Brock graduate Justus Duntsch (BA ‘17) has used his art to create community change, including through a public art and community beautification project on Robinson Street in Niagara Falls

    Duntsch says the project’s subject matter is difficult to talk about, which has only driven him to ensure those critical community conversations take place.

    “There needs to be a space where this can be discussed without the stigma and that’s really what I’m trying to get towards,” he says.

    Duntsch hopes to adapt the project for an academic space and has been in discussions with his alma mater, and STAC Director David Vivian, about how to do just that given the sensitivity of the topic.

    He says he’s thankful for Brock’s STAC program – which helps students to gain a critical view of contemporary culture – as it provided the skills he’s needed to get to where he is today.

    The instructors are top shelf, the tools, the space – it’s really a world-class facility,” he says of the MIWSFPA.

    Knowing the inspiration that came from his time at the downtown arts school, Duntsch looks forward to seeing where other aspiring artists from the University and beyond take their talents and how they use them to create change in the world.

    “For anyone doing their thing in the arts and anywhere for that matter, just keep on keeping on. Look inside and ask yourself, who do you want to impact? What’s your desired outcome? Find what drives your passion and take the next steps,” he says.

     

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  • Audio tour explores historic art of Mackenzie Chown Complex

    Sunday, May 14, 2023 | By

    Lesley Bell (BA ’88), former Learning Commons Co-ordinator at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts (MIWSFPA), has researched the history of Michael Snow’s Timed Images installation at Brock. She is pictured here with Frame Three, which now hangs in the School.

    posted on the Brock News on TUESDAY, MAY 09, 2023 | by 

    Getting lost in Mackenzie Chown Complex is a familiar experience for many Brock students, and it’s easy to miss the artistic significance of the building in the rush to get to class on time.

    A new self-guided audio tour produced by Foreword, a podcast from the Faculty of Humanities, hopes to encourage a new appreciation for a complicated space and the art it contains on the 50th anniversary of its installation.

    The audio tour guides the listener through the various locations of Michael Snow’s 1972-73 art installation Time Images and considers how the building’s unique architecture plays with the space and light.

    Snow was invited by renowned architect Raymond Moriyama to create an art installation as part of the design for Brock’s new Academic Staging Building, now called the Mackenzie Chown Complex. His installation consisted of a series of mirrors, still images and live video situated throughout the building from Pond Inlet to A Block.

    Elements of the installation can still be seen, and the audio tour has an accompanying web page featuring historic photographs, artist sketches and architectural plans collected by Lesley Bell (BA ’88), an artist and retired support staff for Brock’s Department of Visual Arts, during her research on Snow.

    Snow, who died in January, was a widely acclaimed Canadian artist. His many honours included Officer of the Order of Canada (1981), Governor General’s Award in Media Arts (2000) and an honorary Doctor of Law degree from Brock University (1974). He is also known for his Canada geese sculpture, Flight Stop (1979), that hangs in Toronto’s Eaton Centre and his piece The Audience (1989) on the exterior of the Rogers Centre.

    The Foreword podcast’s two-part final episode of series four also features an interview with Bell by host Alison Innes, Strategic Initiatives and Outreach Officer in the Faculty of Humanities. Bell became interested in Snow’s art at Brock while she was working with the Department of Visual Arts. She went on to research and produce a short documentary on Snow and his collaboration with Moriyama at Brock with Tracy Van Oosten (BA ’10) in 2021.

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  • Spotlight on STAC 3P93: Producing a Performance Event

    Friday, April 14, 2023 | By

    STAC 3P93 Producing a Performance Event prepares students for careers in business and the arts by focussing on the practises and procedures to produce a professional performance event.  Collaboration through teamwork and adaptability to the creative, dynamic and stimulating conditions of cultural production are just two important skills that students develop in this intensive 12-week course. 

    In a recent capstone event, each student group pitched their ideas to a trio of panellists in a time-limited competition for producing success. The presentations included a conceptual outline of the cultural experience, supported by the planning, operating, funding, marketing, staging and production components of a successful audience and community engagement event.  

    Canadians recognize that the performing arts improve their quality of life and acknowledge the impact of the arts on the social and economic health of their communities. Events that imagine storytelling, music, dance and visual arts in different spaces of community engagement, such as theatres and cafes are often proposed by the students in this course. The students share a concern for improved mental health, sustained housing security and the well-being of the individual and the community, and they propose cultural experiences that will contribute to these outcomes.

    “Do not be afraid of the art!” – Colleen Smith, CEO, First Ontario Performing Arts Centre. 

    pictures of Colleen Smith (FOPAC) and Steve Remus (NAC)

    Colleen Smith (FOPAC) and Steve Remus (NAC)

    The guest panellists, invited for their breadth and depth of experience in their professional fields, share their wisdom learned from many years of successful leadership in the arts and culture sector. In recent years this has included the CEO of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (FOPAC), Colleen Smith, the Minister of Energy, Minds and Resources at the Niagara Artists Centre (NAC), Stephen Remus, and the Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, David Vivian.  

    Students conceptualize the events through an examination of the complexities of planning and creating public productions. Each group integrates the technical and business demands with the creative experience. And what was the overwhelming advice from the panelists at a recent presentation? Keep the production – the art – at the centre of the plan. 

    Art is the most important part of an artistic event, and I realized that it’s easy to lose sight of that in all the technicalities and logistics of planning, but it’s important to always come back to it.
    Hannah Cain (Student, STAC 3P93, Winter 2022). 

    Impressed by the enthusiasm and originality of the students’ proposals, the panelists encourage students to further explore their ideas and make suggestions of how to take their work from the classroom into the community. Some students have received invitations to pursue the projects with the community partners.  

    Fleshing out a fully comprehensive plan, and then having the opportunity to pitch our performance event not only created an opportunity to apply my learning from the myriad of lesson materials but also gave me the experience of working with a team of other passionate peers whom I could see myself working with in the future…theory alone cannot teach the valuable life lessons that occur when you get your hands dirty and create something that excites you.
    Skye Rogers (Student, STAC 3P93, Winter 2022). 

    STAC 3P93 Producing a Performance Event will be available for registration in the Fall session of 2023-24. 

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  • Spirit of Mali: Kosar’s Corner – Part 2

    Monday, February 27, 2023 | By

    Professor David Vivian, Director of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture (STAC) and the students of DART 3F61 Design: Theatrical Design visit Stève Viès and the exhibition. photo: Paul Jams.

    In my previous post, I provided some general information about The Spirit of Mali exhibition, including the backstage production and specific events. In this post, I intend to examine the exhibition critically and discuss its importance and contribution. 

    The Spirit of Mali brought a diverse community together for a celebration of Malian art at the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, St. Catharines, from the 1st to the 10th of February, 2023. The exhibition presented textile art, sculpture, puppets, masks, musical instruments, games, and wooden crafts and immersed its audience in the art and culture of Mali. Visitors could enjoy a variety of arts and were welcomed with lectures, individual guidance, live music, dance, food, and an opportunity for socialization in an artistic space. One of the main components of this exhibition was the textiles, some of which are intended to narrate historical and mythological stories which were mentioned in my previous post. Throughout the exhibition, Stève Viès, the curator of this exhibition and a multidisciplinary artist, told the stories upon which the textiles were created. The audience, however, was invited to make their own reading from the works in the exhibition. “Not everyone connects with an artwork the same way”, said Dr. Jean B. Ntakirutimana, a professor in the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures at Brock University, a lead partner in the production of this exhibition. In the round table discussion on February 3rd, Dr. Ntakirutimana shared the profound feeling he had when he entered the space for the first time and talked about one of the objects in the exhibition, the crocodile mask.  He stated that the aesthetics of the crocodile which was hung on a piece of white fabric stood out for him initially. He mentions that aside from the symbolism of the crocodile, which represents strength, power, and friendship, one can have their own interpretation when seeing the artifact. He encouraged the viewers to see the artifacts and feel. He added that artworks are stimuli to provoke “vibrations”, and the vibrations are different for each person. He later mentioned that for him, the exhibition connected him with a motherly source.

    Dr. Jean B. Ntakirutimana (left) and Stève Viès discuss last minute planning before the guided visit and round table discussion. Photo: Paul Jams.

    Nafée Faigou, a St. Catharines artist, poet and community leader, the former artistic director of SOFIFRAN, talked about the expression of every component of a work of art, saying the process of making a textile from a plant is “itself a story, which is the story of life”. She continued that “life is not just the matter, but also the spirit”. She mentioned that in this exhibition, the spirit was put into a material space. She stated that the spirit of Bogolan art is fluid and can be described in many ways and may resonate differently for everyone.

    Nafée Faigou shares her insight during the roundtable discussion. Photo: Paul Jams.

    For me, the exhibition was remarkable in the range of meaning that it offered. It encouraged the personal and symbolic interpretation of the artworks. It provided its audience with information about the artworks but asked them to reflect upon the artworks. What stood out for me in some of the textiles was the use of patterns as a way of coloring some parts of paintings. Some of the patterns, however, symbolized concepts, values, and elements. To me, the patterns seemed like the creation of an intertext in the artwork that connects it with other stories. By providing visual hints to the viewers, they also seemed to be presenting a lens to see the image, suggesting how to interpret the story that the composition depicts. The work, Spiritualité Bambara, for example, depicts an aspect of Bambara culture –  the idea of care in a community that is not limited only to humans. A community is formed by interactions between humans and other living entities. In this textile, we see patterns that symbolize marriage, a subtheme for this composition. According to Stève Viès, marriage in Mali culture is not just between two individuals;  with the tie of marriage, one becomes responsible for all their new family members. This care and responsibility is not limited to family but can also be seen in the workplace.

    From left, Maman Fété Ngira-Batware Kimpiobi, Justine Djoléi Gogoua and Stève Viès welcome the guests during the opening night ceremonies. Dr. Jean B. Ntakirutimana is seen far right. Photo: Paul Jams.

    According to Stève Viès, some of the objects such as masks and puppets presented in the exhibition are used for storytelling in performing arts traditions in Mali. They contribute to the transmission of knowledge in Malian culture. The puppets presented in the exhibition are designed by Torri Diarra for the play The Legend of Bogolan, a musical that was written and performed by Stève Viès and Isabelle Garceau. Torri Diarra has made hundreds of puppets and masks to educate young audiences on the importance of preserving nature, protecting endangered species, and planting trees.

    In the opening and closing celebrations of the exhibition on February 4th and 10th, 2023, the audience were immersed in the culture of Mali through music, dance, and food. The organizers of the project from Brock University, Dr. Jean B. Ntakirutimana (Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures) and  Prof. David Vivian (Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture/Department of Dramatic Arts) engaged the audience in meaningful conversations about the artworks. The group dance exercise was a joyous practice of community building. The celebration ended with notes about collective identity, a sense of belonging, and the importance of the improvement of the self. Community engagement was one of the purposes and outcomes of this exhibition, according to Dr. Ntakirutimana. 

    “After the closing ceremony”, Dr. Ntakirutimana remarked, “I started feeling a separation like the anxiety a child feels after being weaned.” He referred to Africa as a mother figure for him and the arts presented in the exhibition as the spirit of that continent. The exhibition was a moment for individuals of all ages to see art, appreciate it, discuss it, make connections, dance, and play.

    Stève Viès demonstrates a musical instrument in his collection. Photo: Paul Jams.

    In order to share the art of Mali with a larger audience, Stève Viès will continue to tour the exhibition and develop a website at impressionsdeterre.com. He presents the art of Mali culture with a “positive vibration” and looks forward to bringing the artists, whom he calls brothers and sisters, to future exhibitions so that they may spark intercultural conversations and knowledge transmission.

    Museum in the Hallway / Boîte-en-valise, a project of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture, situated on the second floor of the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, continues a small exhibit of art and objects from Mali until the closing reception on March 3, 2023.

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  • Spirit of Mali: Kosar’s Corner – Part 1

    Thursday, February 09, 2023 | By

     

    The Spirit of Mali was brought to St. Catharines to celebrate Black History and African Heritage Month. Opening on February 3rd, 2023, in the Robertson Theatre of the FirstOntario Performing Arts Center, the exhibition presents textile art, sculpture, puppets, masks, musical instruments, games, and wooden crafts.

    Stève Viès, the curator of this exhibition and a multidisciplinary artist based in Montreal, celebrates and honours the work of the artists and craftsmen Boubacar Doumbia, Mamoudo Nango, Tiorri Diarra, and Abou Konan.  The exhibition will provoke excitement and curiosity in its audience, inspire artists with the aesthetic forms practiced in Mali, and spark conversations about different ways that art explores spirituality and brings a community together.

    According to Stève, exhibition preparation takes years. The completion of some artworks in the exhibition has taken more than a hundred hours of work.  The collection of the objects has required multiple travels to Mali.  This exhibition was first planned for February of 2022 but was cancelled due to the COVID-19 risk management policies in place at the time.  The installation of the exhibition, alone, took almost 22 hours! Lighting, sound and technical professionals, managers, supervisors, publicity and hospitality teams from the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, and students, staff and faculty from Brock University came together to make this event happen.

    The process of preparing and installing the exhibition began late on a Sunday evening and soon after the arrival of the collection from Montreal. The first pieces to hang were the large format textiles, some measuring as large as 11’ x 19’.  These artworks tell the histories and myths of Soumaoro Kanté, a king of the Sosso people; Sunjata Keita, the first ruler of the Mali Empire; the Battle of Kirina, a battle between the Sosso king Sumanguru Kanté and the Mandinka prince Sundiata Keita. The patterns on the textiles include stories, symbols, and patterns, all painted with natural dyes and colors. The textiles were installed individually and as the background for the masks that would follow. During the guided visits of the exhibition we learn about the important role of these textiles in the presentation of objects like masks and puppets. Proper installation and effective lighting in this non-traditional exhibition space were an important part of the process. The installation planning and coordination was led by Professor David Vivian of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture/Department of Dramatic Arts, assisted by students from the Department of Dramatic Arts, staff from the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture, and myself!

    On February 3rd, Stève Viès led us on a guided tour by followed by a mini symposium hosted by Professor Jean Ntakirutimana of the Department of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures of Brock University. This was followed by an opening celebration on February 4th, resplendent with dance, musical performance, and discussions in theatre, accompanied by food and beverages from Mali.

    The Spirit of Mali is on exhibition until the 10th of February, with a public celebration on the closing night. Smaller elements are installed at the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts as part of the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture project: Museum in the Hallway / Boîte-en-valise. You may visit this exhibition on the second floor of the MIWSFPA, near the entrances to the MIW Theatre.

    In my next posting about the Spirit of Mali I will talk about some of creative and critical responses to the work in the exhibition, and the important work that is done when we invite our community to experience new and remarkable experiences from diverse places and cultures in the world.  See you soon!

    For more information: https://brocku.ca/miwsfpa/stac/2023/01/16/spirit-of-mali-visits-st-catharines/

    This is the first in a series of short postings by the STAC curatorial assistant Kosar Dakhilalian, recently a student of the Master of Arts in Studies in Comparative Literatures and Arts at Brock University.  Kosar will introduce you to the backstage and onstage experiences of making meaning in material culture at the Centre for Studies in Arts and Culture.

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