Miya Turnbull kneels on the floor of a sunroom. Large photos of the Japanese Canadian artist, masked in ways that almost reveal, are placed along two walls. She’s getting pieces ready for a solo summer exhibit at Eltuek Arts Centre, Cape Breton; meanwhile, a group show, Unveiled, opens at The Beaney House of Art &...
Read MoreAn issue that looks at CRAFT practices in Mi’kma’ki. Craft is an artform which takes a physical object or artefact – for example: wood, clay, ceramics, beadwork, basketmaking, glass, textiles – but then there’s the word meaning the skill of producing that object. Why is process important to craft? How does a craftsperson become an...
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In 2009, the preeminent Canadian craft historian Dr. Sandra Alfoldy wrote, “perhaps the fact we do not possess an instantly identifiable “Canadian” craft aesthetic is our aesthetic.” Beauty and truth are found in and among our differences, and authentic realizations come to fruition when we connect both because of and despite these differences. It is...
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My first time seeing porcupine quillwork was watching my Aunt Connie create pieces at her kitchen table when I was 16 years old. It was mesmerizing to watch her take tiny quills and insert each one meticulously into place. I still remember the rhythm she created. When I began my own exploration into Indigenous Arts...
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Originally from the historic Maroon Town of Accompong in St. Elizabeth, Jamaica, artist Tyshan Wright now lives and works in Halifax. He is a traditional maker of Jamaican Maroon ceremonial objects, which are mixed media and created primarily with wood and natural forest products. Wright recently collaborated with his wife—beloved Halifax poet and writer Shauntay...
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Just beyond the Queen Elizabeth Hospital on Prince Edward Island, the late September sunset washes the sky with a lilac glaze that tints the Hillsborough River below. With only one day remaining until the Harvest Moon, the celestial body is nearly at its peak brightness, but an unlikely structure along the grassy shore—a white cubic...
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Creating community in the arts is especially important for those who identify as disabled. In October 2021, members of the disability arts community gathered online for the first annual Disability Atlantic Arts Symposium (DAAS), hosted by JRG Society for the Arts. Artists connected on Zoom to discuss pertinent topics surrounding the experience of being a...
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francesca ekwuyasi in conversation with Arjun Lal On a sunny afternoon in June 2021, I meet Arjun Lal at their home studio in the north end of Halifax. Having only seen their leatherwork and performance art as Vagine—their bright eyeshadow and gold tinsel-streaked wig-wearing alter ego—I am eager to see what else they’ve been getting...
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Ursula Johnson has created a safe and hospitable space to delve deeply into conversational exchanges that reveal our complex relationships with places we call home, consumption, ownership, and one another—specifically what it means to be, as we all are, treaty people. Johnson’s exhibition, ITHA: The Livingroom, was on view at the Blue Building in K’jipuktuk/Halifax...
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As if being anything other than White in Halifax doesn’t already make you hyper-visible, the women in Rita Malik’s short film On Being Brown sometimes navigate quintessential Maritime markers wearing gold-embroidered jewel-toned lehengas. Even though it’s an ornate shirt-over-skirt set that South Asian women reserve for celebrations, the women in the film wear lehengas on...
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Driving my car down the winding Bonavista highway, I remember how many times I’ve done this route – to watch whales, to go for a good slice of pizza, and, since 2017, to see contemporary art. Growing up in Clarenville, a town an hour and a half away from the Bonavista peninsula, I thought I...
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Stemming from generations of near-forgotten knowledge, Carley Mullally’s work transfigures discarded marine detritus into thoughtful contemporary artworks by employing traditional maritime rope making and net repair methods. Originating from New Glasgow, Nova Scotia, Mullally discovered sewing at a very young age. This led her to diligently pursue fashion and garment making during her adolescent years....
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