leaving the table: how to draw an imagined place, 2019
Materials: Carpets gathered from my community, staghorn sumac, Turkish sumac, coriander, poppy seeds, tobacco, white pine, white oak dust, cumin seeds, cloves and black tea.

Gesturing towards ways of gathering and being with others that are underscored by a sense of mutual responsibility and care, this work asks participants to collectively imagine a space other than the table around which we might gather. A space that exists within the boundaries, and in relationship to the violent histories of this place. That acknowledges the ongoing legacies of these histories, alongside the reality that this place has also been a refuge for many. Leaving the table asks us to contend with how we came to be here on this land, and what our responsibilities are in being here together.

We collectively outlined the territory of Treaty 13: The Toronto Purchase using a combination of staghorn and Turkish sumac. Participants were invited to bring a spice or other such material they felt particular attachment to, for use in the collective drawing. We drank sumac tea (made from Staghorn, Turkish sumac, and maple syrup, and ate cake with sumac curd.
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Presented as part of public programming re:placement can we find a way? curated by Anu Verma, a series of public programming events in conversation with the exhibition Public Volumes, curated by Noa Bronstein.