Imagine this: you’re volunteering with Ottawa Design Club ahead of its next zine launch, and co-founders Izzy Poirier and Ariane Bédard pose a challenge for you: of the 228 pages of the newest zine — a vibrant burst of colours, filled with different artists’ creations — you must pick just 18 artists’ works, as part an upcoming exhibit.
But you’re Mai-Lan Tomkins, seasoned curator and arts educator at the National Art Gallery. You got this.
Ottawa Design Club’s most recent event, ‘Building Bridges’, was held on Nov. 28 at AXENÉO7, an artist-run centre in Gatineau. The event marked the launch of the club’s newest zine — also titled ‘Building Bridges’ — along with its first-ever art exhibit, with 28 of works hung on the walls of AXENÉO7.
View this post on Instagram
In her opening remarks, Tomkins said her approach as lead curator of the exhibit was the “absolute embrace of diversity, among cultural backgrounds, generations, mediums, formats, all of it.” Speaking to the over 250 guests, Tomkins said she hoped that audiences would “take forward the richness that comes from celebrating the unique voices we have in our creative communities, both in Ottawa and in Gatineau.”
The event’s theme, which was all about building community, purposefully brought people from Ottawa into Gatineau. M. A. Marleau, artistic director of AXENÉO7, said that the “river is what unites us more than what separates us — we’re more connected than we think. To see local artists being put forward is always such a privilege.”
Photo by Maryn Devine.
The event also unveiled four physical artworks, created by designer Andrew Doxtater, sculpture artist Pooja Pawaskar, fashion designer Hailey Wyatt, and painter and muralist Stephanie Babij. The artworks-in-progress were first exhibited at Ottawa Design Club’s previous event, where audience members were invited to add to the works — in Wyatt’s case, by pinning fabric to a jacket.
Mai-Lan Tomkins’ opening remarks. Photo by Finn.
Wyatt works exclusively in vintage and reclaimed materials. Wearing her completed jacket at the event, guests were coming up to Wyatt, explaining which pieces of fabric they had added to the jacket, and why.
“There’s a time to create alone and there’s a time to create together, and both are equally as important,” Wyatt said. “When we create together, it adds so many new dimensions and layers. It makes the story more interesting.”
Pawaskar, who works with wooden sculptures, had guests coming up to her to ask about her process. “It’s always special to see that,” she said.
Andrew Doxtater in his wooden chair, with artists Pooja Pawaskar, Hailey Wyatt, and Steph Babij. Photo by Finn.
Helen Lam — an extended-reality and narrative designer with experience in video games and virtual reality — penned an essay for the zine about virtual reality as a bridge between the actual world and digital world. “I’m just so happy that Ottawa Design Club embraces that,” Lam says. “I’m biased as a digital artist but I think that kind of perspective about the digital world is missing.”
To come back to Ottawa Design Club’s co-founders — brand designer Izzy Poirier and graphic designer Ariane Bédard — the pair had been working year-round, along with over a number of volunteers, for the creation of the zine, and the launch of the club’s biggest event yet.
At AXENÉO7. Photo by Curtis Perry.
Bédard hoped that, at the end of the event, people would take away “the beauty that can be found on the other side of the bridge.” Plus, Bédard actually lives in Gatineau: “it’s nice for everybody to come on my side tonight,” she joked.
Poirier — never one to sleep on a good theme — even crimped her hair for the event, creating “little bridges,” she said. Her parents came to celebrate their daughter’s work.
“It just feels so good,” Poirier said, proudly holding a copy of the zine. “What a way to wrap up the ODC year.”
You can buy your copy of Building Bridges here. Find out more on the Ottawa Design Club’s website here.
.gif)
