We Heal In The Garden

We Heal in the Garden is a documentation of Caribbean herbal stories and recipes that are shared to heal each other in whichever way we need it. This project is a vessel to unearth stories and recipes that are passed down through chosen family, lineage, and loved ones. How do our healing journeys connect us back to our bodies, communities, and earth? 

Each textile body sculpture is partnered with different herbal remedies that heal ailments in that body part with ceramic replicas of Caribbean household items used to collect, cook and store the herbs and remedies. 

I am eternally grateful to those who had their bodies moulded and to those who shared their stories and recipes. 

-Anélia

Anélia will be in residence at Eyelevel for April, creating two casts in collaboration with LGBTQIA+ African Nova Scotian/Caribbean Diaspora folks to be installed at the North End Community Garden along with three additional sculptures.

The exhibition will run from April 27th - May 26th with an artist talk and tour of the site on and over zoom on April 27th at 2 PM (rain date April 28th at 2 PM). 
 

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84176521574?pwd=ZFZJQ0lQUjFWQnUwVzkwd2RHaGw5UT09

Meeting ID: 841 7652 1574

Passcode: 785661
 

…

About the Artist:

Anélia Victor is a Toronto-based mixed-media textile artist. They revisit the methods and discourses from the past to better innovate a new trajectory for the future to give life through texture and feel, and to give people a vision of the future. They rely on the act of re/membering; talking and feeling the body in the present about the past and the connections to self and others. Their work seeks to explore the depths of their own identity and culture to tell stories that have been tucked away and bring them into the light. Their founding themes are identity, herbalism and Africanfuturism with a focus on Black & Queer Histories, Caribbean history, textile sustainability and food cultivation.
 

___

Access Notes:

Please note that all Eyelevel programs, including outdoor programs, are fully masked. Those attending the artist talk will be asked to mask except for young children and those who cannot for sensory/medical/accessibility reasons. Masks will be provided. ASL interpretation will be provided. 

Click here for a Google map of the exhibition site with walking directions through Fort Needham Memorial Park (at the Novalea Street entrance) and from the nearest bus stops. 

Parking adjacent to the North End Community Garden is available, and the exhibition can be viewed from a paved path. Attendees are welcome to get closer to the works by entering into the garden, but please do not touch. 

The exhibition and artist talk is suitable for children of all ages and will cover topics of cultural connection/reconnection, healing, community relationships and placemaking. Subjects such as Caribbean History and African Nova Scotian History, including the Trans Atlantic slave trade and anti-Black racism may be discussed. 

Fort Needham Memorial Park has a large bathroom facility with push-button operated doors, water fountains, non-gendered washrooms and large wheelchair-accessible washrooms with grab bars, space for an aid and full-sized motorized changing tables. Washrooms are located in the park near the playground. The quickest access is via a paved path through the park with an incline. 

The artist talk will be outdoors, while there are benches near the exhibition site, additional seating will not be provided. Attendees are recommended to also wear sun protection. The talk will be streamed via Zoom (link above) and a recording will be made available afterwards. 

If you have questions about this project or the artist talk, please contact sally@eyelevel.art