Negotiating Spaces on P_121 wall at PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts

Conversation, Postcard Anecdotes, Gateway to the North
Negotiating Spaces: Visual Recollections of Train Travel in Canada                        Traditional C-print, paper, ink, satin ribbon

In December 2015, a few pieces from my on-going project Negotiating Spaces were on view on the P_121 members wall at PLATFORM in Winnipeg, MB.
I am pleased to soon be attending the Deep Bay Residency in Riding Mountain National Park, MB during the Summer 2016.  In Deep Bay, I will be creating more work surrounding defunct rail -lines in Manitoba and collecting memories and stories about the effect of the railway. Be sure to check back soon for more details!

Ancient Selfies: Exploration of 4x5 Camera Portraiture

Ancient Selfies: Exploration of 4x5 Camera Portraiture
P_121 Wall at PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts
Opening reception: October 5th, 5:00pm  
Art City Inc.

Over the Summer of 2015, Art City's participants explored the concept of contemporary portraiture (the selfie) using a 4x5 camera and expired black and white 4x5 sheet film. Each participant learned how to use the rare camera and put their own spin on a historic process.

Art City’s Black and White Film Photography program has been running every week for more than 15 years, and is one of the last dark rooms left in Winnipeg. Under the guidance of instructor Lindsey Bond, and with help from regular volunteer Duncan McNairnay, new participants continue to discover and master the magic of traditional photography well into this digital age.

Thanks to Duncan McNairnay, who made his 4x5 camera available and donated film. We would also like to thank the Manitoba Museum for donating a 4x5 enlarger that made developing the photographs possible. 

Cyanotype Workshop, FLASH photographic festival 2015

Cyanotype Workshop, in partnership with FLASH photographic festival 2015
Sunday, October 18, 2015 – 12:00-3:00pm
Instructor: Lindsey Bond
Cost: Free for current PLATFORM Members, and free for new Members
Location: PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts

This fun and experimental Cyanotype Workshop takes a look into early image-making techniques with a modern slant. In this three hour workshop, participants will learn the brief history of alternative printing methods, the make-up (and difference) between traditional and photographic papers, how to set up chemistry, and the basics of printing including unique ways to brush chemistry on paper.

The Cyanotype process pioneered by Sir John Herschel is characteristically known by its bright cyan-blue colour. It is a non-toxic and hands-on process that can be used by participants of any age or experience. Participants are encouraged to bring their own natural collected materials (leaves etc…) B/W negatives, X-rays, or digital negatives to the workshop. Please contact Lindsey for more details. All other materials will be supplied.

Lindsey Bond is a lens-based artist who creates collaborative photographic works and video installations that explore socio-geographic issues including urban communication, the bridge as barrier and gateway and contemporary railway culture. She works with a documentary ethic that speaks to an intentional combination of research, analogue processes and intuition. Lindsey received her BFA in Photography from Emily Carr University of Art + Design and studied Visual Communications at Edinburgh College of Art in Scotland. In addition to exhibiting her work across Canada, Lindsey has been published with The Magenta Foundation in Flash Forward 2012 and recently completed a Residency at The Banff Centre. Lindsey has been an art educator over the last five years, teaching children, youth and adults at: Art City Inc., The Children’s Museum, The Art Gallery of Alberta and Artist-Run-Centers including: PLATFORM centre for photographic + digital arts and Harcourt House. Lindsey is currently based in Winnipeg. To view her work visit: www.lindseybond.ca. Contact Lindsey Bond by e-mail at: Lindsey.bond@gmail.comTo Register: Registration is on a first come, first serve basis.

Change Up 2015 Conference

I had the pleasure to attend Change Up 2015 a conference about making progress on some of the toughest social and cultural issues in Canada. Feel free to read on to find out what we discussed! http://inspiritconference.ca/ 

I am so pleased to have been invited to participate in the Change UP 2015 Conference. The conference was four days of deep and intense discussions, listening and learning. I brought my fine and community arts experience to the conference, and took with me many valuable thoughts and ideas from the shared experiences of delegates and panelists alike. The highlights for me were: hearing Lee Maracle and Marie Wilson speak together - in very different ways - on reconciliation (going forward from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission). In addition, hearing Ellen Schneider from Active Voice Lab speak on strategies in documentary films, analyzing the concept of value through the incredible metaphor of horticulture was a gem, and finally listening to Desmond Cole and Barbara Hall speak to racism in Canada today, specifically, surrounding the issue of carding had a lot of impact. 

Throughout the conference, I spoke about one of my first community-art projects from 2012/13 entitled "Messages To: The Edmonton Remand Centre Newspaper" (www.messagestoerc.com), as well as my latest residency on "Train of Thought" with Jumblies Theatre, and the issues of racism in my current home Winnipeg. After taking part in a lot of hard conversations about the tough issues we are all facing in Canada, I left the conference with a full heart knowing it is this group of people who already make a difference everyday, and will continue to change up Canada. Every delegate brought their own wealth of knowledge and expertise, as well as questions they did not have answers to and ways they are trying to resolve them within their own diverse communities. Tactics include: open inclusive discussions, the practice of active listening, documentary films, community gardens, engaging youth to vote, and asking questions, such as what are your media sources? What are the gaps between was is legal and what is just? And finally, who is in your rolodex? 

On a finishing note, the last two thoughts I want to share are quotes from speakers at the conference Lee Maracle and Shane Pointe "... when two people reconcile; two have to speak" and "You and me are we; a never-ending sea." These quotes push me to keep having conversations and listening to the voices in our communities who have not been heard. I believe it is the act of moving over and providing space to hear these voices that will further social change in Canada and help us to see difference as equality ultimately pushing forward a pluralist society. 

Conference photos taken by Inspirit Foundation

Negotiating personal histories and community arts.

It has been one week to the day that I came aboard Train of Thought what a rich journey so far! Our rail journey has had many stops and starts over the central prairies and into the Canadian Shield specifically (for my part) we have traveled from Winnipeg, Treaty 1 Territory, through to Sioux Lookout, White River, Thunder Bay, Nipissing First Nation and North Bay and we are currently on Manitoulin Island in Wikwemikong.

I came aboard expecting to learn more about indigenous histories and traditions in addition to collecting memories from the people and land to create an alternate archive about the effect of the railway on Canadian national memory/ identity. This project has been quite successful, and over the last week, issues surrounding my personal family histories have come up and forced me to ask more questions. Each place that we have stopped has had great impact on me, one of them being in Thunder Bay during a story-led tea ceremony with Eleanor Albanese. Here I told a story of my last train journey across Canada in 2009 where I met my Grandfather for the first and (now only time) in my life. I felt really great sharing this experience as my Grandfather has recently passed. What I took away from this event was the importance of keeping family connections especially if that means crossing the country, and also how story telling can be a healing process through grief and loss.

Other subjects that have come up in discussions along the journey include the grey area between practicing as community artist and/vs. having a socially engaged art practice. This is a place that I find myself often and it has been truly inspiring to hear thoughts from my fellow travelers and different communities we have visited.

Another topic that seems to come up in all sorts of different ways include navigating the waters between settler and indigenous histories and traditions. Traveling on a counter–colonial route across Canada has enabled our Train of Thought company to experience indigenous traditions, ceremonies and prayers first hand as they are practiced today. I am very appreciative and grateful of this part of the journey as it has filled in many gaps in my knowledge. It has been a very welcomed experience and as a result more questions come to my mind about assimilation and colonization when one lives in a homeland without historic traditions or values. I am a fourth generation Canadian and my ancestors settled in Canada from Scotland, Germany and England. I have been separated from much of my ancestral family traditions because I have had little to no contact with my Grandparents (elders). I can say that my focus for this trip has, in part, shifted tracks from story collecting to unraveling and my own family histories and creating new traditions in light of the learned indigenous traditions. How that will impact my art practice has yet to be seen, but I think it will be for the better.

Thank you to The Inspirit Foundation, Jumblies Theatre, and ACI Manitoba