August 26, 2023
Pathway of Resistance
Poem by Andy Trull
Each person placed a stone to create this path
each hand
each stone
someone somewhere
placed us here
the path is made by walking
the walking is made by hips and knees
urgent, careful, slow
these stones will be up all night and awake all day
here in sun and snow
holding still
making way
in stone time
grey hairs running through pink granite
to a world without violence
a world where violence is a preventable disease
and if violence is not preventable, it is responded to with care
a world imagined by these hands and these stones
Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival, Killaloe Pathways Park (ON), 2023. Photo by Cheryl Kauffeldt.
This poem was written and read by Andy Trull, at the inaugural Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival, as a new permanently installed pebble mosaic pathway was unveiled. Imagine 100 people, ages 1 year to 85, crouched amongst the trees, each with a hand on a small round piece of cloth; one by one, in a slow and thoughtful wave, each cloth was lifted revealing The Pathway of Resistance, a pebble mosaic pathway woven through the forest on the new reading trail at Killaloe Pathways Park.
Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival, Killaloe Pathways Park (ON), 2023. Festival production design by Anna Camilleri. Mosaic Pathway unveiling design by Kathy Blomquist. Photo by Cheryl Kauffeldt.
The pathway is made up of over 100 pebble mosaics, some created at the Pathways Countdown Pop-Up event on August 21, 2023 and during the Stepping Stones Across the Shield Countdown Public Art Project in June 2023, and most created during the Renfrew County Inquest Public Art Response project which took place the summer of 2022. Learn more about the Countdown Public Art Project and the Renfrew County Inquest Public Art Response on the Countdown Digital Story website.
Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival, Killaloe Pathways Park (ON), 2023. Photo by Cheryl Kauffeldt.
The unveiling of this new mosaic was just one of many beautiful offerings at the Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival that brought together artists from the Ottawa Valley, Toronto and beyond to activate themes of community, collaboration, and social justice. The day included art-making, art workshops, food, a stellar performance by RAW Taiko Drummers from Toronto, and the Tree Song performance, where we gathered in the forest to sing, and to explore and celebrate the reciprocal relationship between humans and the more-than-human beings of the forest.
Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival, Killaloe Pathways Park (ON), 2023. Photo by Cheryl Kauffeldt.
Complete with rain, sunshine, and lots of conversation, the Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival was a great success thanks to the work, presence, and contributions of many.
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The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival was produced by ReDefine Arts and Ottawa Valley Community Arts (OV-CAOS), with support from co-producing partners Community Resource Centre/Survivor Advocacy Support Initiative (CRC/SASI) and Township of Killaloe Hagarty Richards. All festival events took place in Killaloe Pathways Park, situated on Omàmiwininiaki, the unceded ancestral territory of Algonquin Anishinaabeg, in Killaloe, Ontario.
We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council Artist-Presenter Collaboration Projects.