Ayumi Goto runs the Toronto Waterfront Marathon as the half-human/half-salmon geisha gyrl in a performance addressing labour, responsibility, and the impact of environmental disaster. The work is dedicated to the late Anishinaabe grandmother and Water Walker Josephine Mandamin, who circumnavigated the Great Lakes to raise awareness about water pollution, and David S. Buckel, a lawyer, environmental activist, and runner, who self-immolated to protest humanity’s addiction to fossil fuels.
With more than 25,000 people registered for this marathon and dozens of road closures, we have identified below a few of the best ways for you to catch ‘single use salmon plogging’ performance in the Toronto Waterfront Marathon, besides running alongside it!
Virtually: Download the Toronto Waterfront Marathon app. Enter ‘No’ to being a registered runner. Enter the following bib numbers to track the performers’ locations.
- Ayumi Goto bib #1587
- Peter Morin #2840
- Deb Lim #2352
- Soleil Launiere #2233
Physically: The marathon begins and ends at Queen & Bay Street at 9:09 am and ending at approximately 3:30 pm. All viewers can follow the bib tracking on this interactive map: https://www.racepoint.ca/maps/stwm.html
*The bridge at the bottom of Roncesvalles Ave is a good place to see the performance from above. Location here.
Co-commissioned with and curated by FADO Performance Art Centre.
The Toronto Biennial of Art Co-Relations Program is made possible with the generous support of the TD Bank Group through its corporate citizenship platform, The Ready Commitment.
Image Credit: Rinrigaku, 2016. Photo credit: Yuula Benivolski. Image Courtesy of artist.
Bio
Ayumi Goto (born in Surrey, BC, Canada; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) is a performance apprentice, based in Toronto, traditional territories of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Huron-Wendat, Anishinaabe, and Mississaugas of the Credit First Nations. As diasporic-Japanese, she at times draws upon her cultural heritage and language to creatively reconsider sentiments surrounding national culturalism, migrations, activist strategies, and land-human relations. Ayumi has made performative interventions in London, Berlin, Kyoto, and across this land presently called Canada. Her practice is deeply influenced by Shirley Bear, Roy Miki, Cheryl L’Hirondelle, Adrian Stimson, and Peter Morin.
Learn more about Ayumi Goto’s practice by listening to episode 4 of the Toronto Biennial of Art Podcast “Short Format”, available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, and Spotify.