Sunrise Soil Stories

COMMUNITY PROJECT

Feel her, smell her, taste her, honour her! Soil is the mother.

Sunrise Soil Stories is a temporal performance of soil-focused discovery for ALVAR festival, presented by The Department of Illumination in August 2023, at Base31 in Picton. Energized by the life layered history of this small patch of ancient limestone plateau, thinly covered with matter and minerals, Sunrise Soil Stories invites you to slow down, look down, and speak up for the soil.

Soil is the matrix that supports all life. Soil is also a water guardian: holding and storing and giving life slowly.

During the Sunrise Soil Stories performance, we paused to consider the world under foot as a continuous moment and movement of air, water, and living organisms. Through interviews and collages, we explores different relationships to the soil through community members.

What stories does this soil tell us? What is the pace of soil? What do Indigenous cultures teach about soil? How can WE speak for soil? What are your soil stories?

The Department of Illumination presented ALVAR, a new 2-day festival, which took place August 20- 21 at Base31, a former World War II training Camp in Picton, Ontario. While the built heritage of this location is striking, ALVAR focuses on the natural heritage of the area and the unique ‘alvar’ ecosystem- a globally rare environment which is present in the adjacent conservation area and other regions around the Great Lakes. The arts were used to celebrate this precious environment, characterized by its limestone plain, thin soil and sparse grassland vegetation. ALVAR festival encouraged artists to capitalize on the windy nature of the site, incorporating handmade flags and banners, as well as more intimate offerings, as temporary installations on the site.

Thank you to Sarah Crawford, Marc Forget, Jennifer Brant, Nicki Ramjass, Rhonda Nolan, and Andrea Pillar for sharing their soil stories.

What are your soil stories?

Dig deep!