Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival

About the Festival
The inaugural Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival brought together artists from the Ottawa Valley and beyond to activate themes of community, collaboration, and social justice during a full-day festival on August 26, 2023, with pop-up events on August 21, 23 and 24. All festival events took place in Killaloe Pathways Park, situated on Omàmiwininiaki, the unceded ancestral territory of Algonquin Anishinaabeg, in Killaloe, Ontario.

Today we face many pressing social and ecological issues. It can be difficult to understand what is happening in the world around us and why. The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival is rooted in the work of so many who have come before us to resist oppression and dream of a world where we all belong. It recognizes that our lives are safer and more nourished when we centre connection and interdependence in our communities. Through art and celebration, we have come together for greater equity, decolonization, and gender justice. Here, at the heart of all social change, are people who first imagine it, and then work toward it, together.

Project Origins
The Pathways of Resistance Arts Festival is inspired by seven years of collaboration between OV-CAOS and ReDefine Arts through the Countdown Public Art Project (2016-2023) and the 2022 Renfrew Country Inquest Public Art Response. As part of these projects in 2022, community members gathered to create individual small pebble mosaics to honour victims and survivors of gender-based violence. These mosaics, along with many more created by festival participants, were permanently installed in Killaloe Pathways Park and unveiled as part of the Festival. This new installation, consisting of over 100 small mosaics, forms a tangible path forward to resist gender-based violence.

Festival highlights include:

• Opening with Elder Jane-Ann Chartrand - Mushkikii EanigishmoKwe

• Mosaic Pathway Unveiling with Andy Trull

• Taiko Concert and Workshop by Raging Asian Womxn Taiko Drummers

• Pebble Mosaic Making Workshops with the Countdown Public Art Project

• Fabric Printing Workshop with ReDefine Arts & OV-CAOS

• Musical Performance and Community Choir Rehearsal by Tree Song

• Weaving Workshop with Eliza Plumley

• Botanical Story Walk with Megan Spencer

• Poetry Workshop with Jody Chan

Festival Leadership
This festival is 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, and community partners Women’s Sexual Assault Centre of Renfrew County (WSAC) and EVA-Ending Violence Against Women Renfrew County.

We gratefully acknowledge funding support from the Ontario Arts Council Artist-Presenter Collaboration Projects.