Stage Door News
Stage Door News
On August 9, 2015 at 12 pm, Toronto will bear witness to one of the most extraordinary images of its cosmopolitan self.
Ring of Fire, a commissioned procession by internationally renowned artist Marlon Griffith, takes to the streets—and not just any street in any city. This kind of event can only happen in Toronto.
This not-to-be-missed, 300-person strong street procession, punctuated by spoken word poetry by some of Toronto’s most promising “word-warriors,” weaves through the heart of Toronto’s downtown core along University Avenue from Queen’s Park to City Hall. At 2 pm the procession culminates in a Round Dance worthy of the Guinness Book of World Records—an unbelievable image to open TO2015’s cultural program at Nathan Phillips Square that day.
The procession is based on the Anishinaabe Seven Grandfather Teachings: Wisdom, Courage, Respect, Honesty, Truth, Humility, and Love—themes that are dramatized in the elaborate, custom-designed costumes and newly conceived mobility devices and that structure the “bands” of the procession. Importantly, these Teachings are also the ethical basis of the project and inform the working principles of its making.
A project over two years in the making, Ring of Fire brings together members of local First Nations, Disability, Capoeira, and Spoken Word communities in an unprecedented collaboration. As a project dedicated to the future of Toronto, this project is made by Torontonians for Torontonians through the multi-generational and trans-cultural contribution of hundreds of people from across the Greater Toronto Area and beyond. Members of the public are invited to join Ring of Fire by emailing procession@theAGYUisOutThere.org.
Using the structural dynamic of Trinidadian Carnival and appropriating the “mas camp” as a site of co-authored exchange, this elaborate and multi-faceted project innovates a new kind of pedagogy. From spoken word poets learning from First Nations and deaf youth who sign their poems in the procession, to institutions and organizations learning from persons with disabilities (and becoming more accessible in the process), to mixing integrated dance with traditional forms of Capoeira, this project seeks to mobilize Toronto’s latent energy and position it as a place for a new form of collective, and performative cultural resistance that is also a contemporary form of festive celebration.
Marlon Griffith has participated in residencies and exhibited extensively across the globe. Recent projects include new commissions for 7th GWANGJU BIENNALE (Gwangju, Korea, 2008), CAPE09 BIENNIAL (Cape Town, South Africa, 2009), MANIFESTA 9 Parallel Projects (Hasselt, Belgium, 2012), AICHI TRIENNALE (Nagoya, Japan 2013), TATE MODERN (London, England, 2014) and the ART GALLERY OF YORK UNIVERSITY (Toronto, Canada, 2015). In 2010, Griffith was the recipient of a John Simon Guggenheim Fellowship and of a Commonwealth Award.
Ring of Fire is commissioned by the Art Gallery of York University (AGYU) and curated by Emelie Chhangur. The project is produced in partnership with York University’s School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design, Art Starts, and SKETCH, where “mas camps” have been developed and hosted. Legendary Artists, Activist Rose Jacobson and Elder Duke Redbird are project mentors.
For more information on the project and to view images of the work in progress, please visit: Ringoffire.theAGYUisOutThere.org
Follow (all of) us on Twitter: #RingofFireTO @A_G_Y_U
@hostnationTO15 @ArtStartsTO @SKETCHToronto @PicassoPRO @EqualGrounds
And take to the streets with us by emailing: procession@theAGYUisOutThere.org
Illustration: Sketch of Debwewin, the Truth Sentinel. ©2015 Marlon Griffith.
2015-07-27
Toronto: Trinidadian artist creates 300 person street procession for the Parapan American Games