This exhibiton features a textile quilt—comprised of collaged and layered repurposed fabrics and embellished with various mark making techniques created by Artful Afternoon participants. They explore personal memories and form connections through mutual art making.
Taking inspiration from An Exhibition Highlight: Monkman, Johnson & Bennett that focuses on a contemporary perspective of the histories of Indigenous Peoples in Canada, each pariticpant was invited to reflect on their own intimate ties to the land. They expressed their understanding of Canadian identity in the global environment through a creative process that focuses on sensory response to texture and colour alongside of an enggaged dialogue. The completed work is a result of a colelctive vision for the future of our community and planet.
This installation highlights the participants’ individual artworks as well as their shared creative vision. It brings together making and meaning. Using the quilt as . tactile form of stroytelling, each individual panel embodies a unique voice. When pieced together, their personal stories become part of a much larger strengthened whole.
—Lux Habrich, Artist facilitator
ABOUT ARTFUL AFTERNOON
Artful Afternoon, a partnership program between the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia since 2014, offers a series of monthly art workshops designed for those with memory loss, many with Alzheimer’s, and their partner in care. Facilitated by Lux Habrich, Artful Afternoon provides participants with an engaging hands-on studio experience and an interactive Gallery tour to view original artworks that invite the sharing of ideas, feelings, and memories.
Over multiple visits and experiences in the Gallery, both established and new friendships develop and help bring enjoyment and hope to participants. With over 17,000 Nova Scotians living with a type of dementia (with numbers increasing), the impact of high-quality art programs is substantive as they over pariticpants a chance to engage socially with others, keep mentally active, and reduce stress — all of which benefits both the persons with a diagnosis and their care partners to live well with the disease.
The installation of this collaborative quilt, created this past fall, celebrates the accomplishments of the participants and acknowledges the strong commitment of the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia and the Alzheimer Society of Nova Scotia to work together in our community to demonstrate how art can connect us to one another and ourselves.
The Windsor Foundation
