GASTROSOPHY

Dear friends,
You're invited to Gastrosophy, an exhibition about the art and science of good eating. I am one of seven artists exploring the social, political and cultural functions of food in this exhibit.

They examine themes of its substance, social value, personal and cultural experiences, rituals of preparation and consumption and issues related to global production and distribution across media. Ultimately, the question that binds all of these artists together is: “What are we actually doing when we sit down to eat?” — Olivia Chow, Curator

At the opening, I will be performing a piece titled Practical Magick; of Kitchen Witchery where I will be sharing bread and tea in the kitchen space.
This piece explores mundane magic and subtle acts of superstition that are taken for granted in our everyday lives, for example, tossing spilled salt over your left shoulder or using aloe vera. The artwork was inspired by the innocuous doll in my mother's kitchen—the traditional scandinavian poppet, known as a Kitchen Witch, used as a rustic talisman to protect the home and bring good luck—and evolved to encompass references to superstitions, old wives tales, folk magic and ancient pagan traditions.
Because the kitchen is associated with the hearth and is of great importance to folk magic traditions throughout history, I choose to occupy the kitchen space of the gallery, transforming it through performance of rituals like baking bread and brewing tea. In this work, I recreate the space of my kitchen at home by bringing objects from my collection, and creations of more recent origin for the purpose of the exhibition to share with the viewer. I perform the role of kitchen witch—a solitary practitioner of domestic magic and personalized rituals.

The exhibit will also feature a performance of making traditional chinese dumplings. Caution: it may contain flour, meat, shrimp, vegetable, soy, sugar, sesame and traces of peanuts

Join me at the reception tomorrow!
Friday, March 7, from 7 to 10 pm
at The Works Gallery at Jackson Power, 9754 - 60 Ave

 

ONE LOVE

The City of Edmonton, the Alberta Legislature, and University of Alberta are flying the pride flag in support of LGBTQ athletes competing at the Olympics in Sochi, Russia. The flag will remain in place on the community flag pole until the games are over. Beginning in St. John's, Newfoundland, the trend quickly spread accross the country to include cities such as St. Albert, Calgary, Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa.

This week's edition of Back Words is brought to you in part by Colour Your Flag, a community-wide design challenge that invites Edmontonians of all ages to learn about flags and flag design. We want to have some fun, to know how you understand and experience Edmonton. How would you represent the city and your life here through your own flag? What symbols, colours, messages would you use? Go to colouryourflag.com for more information and to submit your own design!

A WISH AND A WARNING

It is our responsibility to treat buildings from our past as pieces of our heritage and therefore reflections of our collective identity. Similarly, the buildings we erect should embody the ideals we wish to pass on to future generations. We should not accept anything less.

Oliver Community League was a model of community engagement, and still they lost their battle. Allowing an icon like the Molson Brewery to go the way of the Arlington and the Gem Theatre should be a crime.

For more information regarding Oliver Community League's fight to have a say in the Molson Crosstown redevelopment, and stay up to date on the project's progress, click here.