Skiing the ice forest. Pollett’s Cove, Lowland Cove, Red River watersheds from the top of North Mountain to Gampo Abbey, Cape Breton on Tibetan New Year’s day in the year of the fire horse. Spirits lifted by sky, mountain, ocean and sleeping on spruce boughs and snow, gliding through magical ancient landscapes on deep snowpack! Four days here with @henrifab@ikinclova@fenn.martin and @sara_gartland_ Members of @skifivewinds
Great to finally share a project that combines art AND outdoor activities! Here are just a few images from kahyónha_kárha_atenoseràke_karònyake (streamforestlawnsky), an exhibition by Six Nations Kanyen’keháka artist Greg A. Hill @gahill_art , that I guest curated at @cuartgallery in Ottawa. Greg combines activities including mountain biking, snowshoeing and walking with Kanyen’kéha language learning, to develop relations with Land. The show also abstracts GPS data from the fitness tracking app Strava, into 3D printed sculptures, and includes digitally abstracted landscapes and collages of the places in unceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory that he's been travelling and learning about over the past 30 years. It's been wonderful to work with Greg and the Carleton University Art Gallery on this project, which is on view until May. I'll share more documentation as it becomes available (it just opened Sunday), and programming, for any Ottawa art/outdoor folks who are interested in participating.
Exploring the intricate glacier-scouted landscapes North of Toronto with @ikinclova , who summoned a remarkable group who all shared the collective work of breaking trail, navigation, gathering wood, tending the fires and making sure everyone was warm and fed. Nice to see old friends connect and hear their stories, and share the feeling of moving together through winter.
Yesterday, ski conditions were perfect along the Gibson River, just north of Toronto. Come join our merry gang of backcountry skiers! First bus with Five Winds Backcountry Ski and Snowshoe Club starts Sunday January 4th: skifivewinds.org
If there is anyone in/around the city who wants to ski (or snowshoe) this winter, this is the best way to do it. Excellent, ultra-low-cost backcountry wilderness skiing (and snowshoeing) in Georgian Bay/Muskoka Canadian Shield, about 90 minutes north of the city. And @skifivewinds is the club to do it with, a volunteer-led organization that runs weekly day trips from the city (a bus on Sundays in the winter), where we explore marshes, lakes and ridges, often see moose, otters, mink and coyotes, and drink hot tea in the snow. The club also need members to survive, and cooperative, member-run clubs, where people share skills, knowledge and companionship, are vital for meaningful outdoor activity (and an important part of a functioning civil society). OG-style skiing, uphill AND downhill, figuring out the route as we go with curious, adventurous people, cottage country without a car or a cottage, because it’s a skiers paradise once winter arrives.
For Cape Breton folks: 7 pm on Thursday July 17th at the Inverness County Centre for the Arts, Sig Burwash and I will be discussing their incredible new graphic novel about a cabin building, dirt-biking, chainsaw wielding, chaps-wearing superhero. It’s an amazing reflection on rural queerness, on survival and identity, and how to use a use a chainsaw and build a cabin, among other things. @sigburwash@drawnandquarterly@i.c.c.a@eileen.myles@kate.beaton
For two consecutive summers, Outdoor School, a critical environmental art platform composed of artist Diane Borsato and curator Amish Morrell, has invited artists to lead a residency in MacKinnon’s Brook.
In this online article, Valérie Frappier writes about the work of artists hosted at MacKinnon’s Brook in August 2023 (Amy Franceschini and Lode Vranken of Futurefarmers) and 2024 (Sameer Farooq) and how they employed their artistic approaches and community around them to situate themselves in their surroundings.
The artists then charted their learnings on a double sided print (slides 4-6) which can be read as a type of map of the methods they used to get to know MacKinnon’s Brook, their experiences of doing so, and what they learne about its ecologies.
More on this insightful piece to come! Visit the link in our bio to read the full article and delve into the work of Futurefarmers and Sameer Farooq🔗
