The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival brings together artists from the Ottawa Valley and beyond to activate themes of community, collaboration, and social justice during a full-day festival on August 26th, 2023,with pop-up events on August 21, 23 and 24. All events will take place, rain or shine, in Killaloe Pathways Park, situated on Omàmiwininiaki, the unceded ancestral territory of Algonquin Anishinaabeg.
The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival is inspired by seven years of collaboration between Ottawa Valley Community Arts and ReDefine Arts through the Countdown Public Art Project (2016-2023) and the 2022 Renfrew County Inquest Public Art Response. Above: detail of pebble mosaic in Countdown Public Art Project. OV-CAOS.org
As part of these projects in 2022, community members created small pebble mosaics to honour victims and survivors of gender-based violence. These mosaics, along with many more to be created by festival participants, will be permanently installed in Killaloe Pathways Park and unveiled as part of the Festival, forming a tangible path forward, consisting of over 100 small mosaics, to resist gender-based violence.
Festival programming includes:
- Opening with Elder Jane-Ann Chartrand – Mushkikii EanigishmoKwe
- Mosaic Pathway Unveiling
- Taiko Concert and Workshop by Raging Asian Womxn Taiko Drummers
- Pebble Mosaic Making & Fabric Printing Workshops
- Musical Performance and Community Choir Rehearsal by Tree Song (Voice And Forest Sounds) – Performance
- Weaving Workshop with Eliza Plumley
- Botanical Story Walk with Megan Spencer
- Poetry Workshop with Jody Chan
The festival grounds will feature a special Kids Tent, Chill Out Zone and Art Lounge.
The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival is produced by ReDefine Arts and Ottawa Valley Community Arts (OV-CAOS), with support from co-producing partners Community Resource Centre/Survivor Advocacy Support Initiative (CRC/SASI) and Township of Killaloe Hagarty Richards.
We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council Artist-Presenter Collaboration Projects.
The festival is open to all ages and General Admission is by donation/Pay What You Wish. General Admission grants access to all performances, drop-in spaces, and general festival programming. In order to secure a spot for any of the workshops, advance sign-up is highly encouraged due to limited capacity.
Registration (General Admission) and Workshop Sign-Up opensed on July 24th. To learn more about the Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival and to access the forthcoming registration portal, visit https://redefinearts.ca/pathways .
Mahaffy,C.,OV-CAOS(2023,July28) Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival Coming to Killaloe in August [media release]
