September 21 – December 1, 2019
Talking Treaties is an outdoor pageant, workshop, and now installation that shares knowledge of the Toronto region’s treaty history. Focusing on Treaty 13, this project includes a film of Indigenous knowledge-keepers, a graphic novel, rhythmic text and song, soft sculptures, and a textile map. In this iteration, participants are invited to generate their own principles of treaty-making. An activity book and ongoing program of activities and events enable audience members to exchange ideas and information with our various human and non-human relations.
Commissioned by the Toronto Biennial of Art and produced by Jumblies Theatre & Arts. Made possible with the generous support of the RBC Emerging Canadian Artist Program.
Bio
Jumblies Theatre & Arts (founded in 2001; based in Toronto, ON, Canada) is an organization with international reach that collaborates with professional artists and diverse communities to create transient utopias and far-reaching ripples. Ange Loft (Kahnawake Mohawk, born in Kahnawake, QC, Canada; lives in Toronto, ON, Canada) is Associate Artistic Director of Jumblies and an interdisciplinary performing artist and initiator practising in Toronto. She is also a vocalist with Yamantaka//Sonic Titan. Her collaborations use arts-based research, wearable sculpture, and theatrical story-weaving to facilitate workshops and theatrical spectacle. Loft created the “Toronto Indigenous Context Brief” for the Toronto Biennial of Art’s Advisory Council.
Exhibition Site
Small Arms Inspection Building (2019)
Small Arms Inspection Building was originally part of a large munitions plant built in 1940 before it was acquired and renovated as an art centre by the City of Mississauga in 2018. With its female dominated workforce, Small Arms Limited manufactured thousands of rifles daily for the Canadian and Allied forces in WWII. In 1990, the TRCA conducted an environmental audit of the site, revealing the presence of polychlorinated biphenyl, volatile organic compounds, and combustible gases across nineteen acres. More than 70,000 tons of contaminated radioactive soil was removed to eventually transform the Arsenal Lands into a park.
1352 Lakeshore Road East
Mississauga ON
L5E 1E9