Kitchener art installation to involve inmates from women's prison
Women at Grand Valley Institution will landscaping the area where the art is installed
The artist of a new art installation in downtown Kitchener wants to get people thinking about the notion of time, while also involving Indigenous women from the Grand Valley Institution in Kitchener.
Ernest Daetwyler is the man behind the piece: Past, Present, Future.
He installed seven spheres, all made out of different materials, beside the Region of Waterloo building, at the corner of Queen Street and Weber Street.
- Conestoga prof plants Indigenous foods garden to help teach land management
- 23-storey mural transforms downtown student residence
Three of the spheres are made of limestone, which he said refers to a distant past.
A larger sphere is made of bricks, taken from some old downtown buildings.
He said a reflective, steel sphere represents the present.
"The right here and now, where you see your self in a mirror at this very moment," Daetwyler explained, adding that the optical illusion will mean that a reflection may look different depending on the angle.
The final two spheres are elevated by two posts and represent the future.
"They invite you to imagine the future and think how the future could look like, " he said.
Bring healing
Daetwyler said he wanted his art to go beyond being an installation.
Through a partnership between the region and Grand Valley Institution, women from the prison will landscape the area around the art, adding gardens and Indigenous plants.
"I'm sure this site here could use some healing, for example, or could use a medicine garden," Daetwyler said.
"This is open for First Nation women to react, to decide."
Daetwyler hopes that work also brings some form of healing to the women who participate.
With files from the CBC's Jackie Sharkey