Join rare and Musagetes for the inaugural Long Dash Festival, a collaborative event bringing together the worlds of art and science. At the rare ECO Centre, you will find a series of programs throughout the day that explores the interconnections and overlaps between arts and science while showcasing the talents of various artists, naturalists and scientists.

See below for program details and register by program activity. 

Why the Long Dash? 

The Long Dash Skipper, Polites mystic, is a brown and orange butterfly found in grassy habitats like meadows, marshes, stream banks and forest edges including on rare lands. Named after a butterfly like its sister programs - the Eastern Comma Artist in Residence and the Question Mark Fellowship - the Long Dash Festival also brings to mind punctuation, in this case em-dashes though also perhaps en-dashes and hyphens, all marks of connection that bring two parts into relationship with each other.

Similarly, the Long Dash Festival brings together the worlds of art and science—as well as those of Musagetes and rare—to explore what happens in the overlap.

Program

10:00 to 11:30 a.m.: A rare Sound Walk

RAIN PLAN: In the event of rain and/or thunderstorms, the "Sound Walk" will shift to a concert inside the Slit Barn. 

Listen carefully to the environment around you with musicians performing at various locations along the Grand Trunk Trail, Woodland Trail and River Trail. The full loop takes about an hour to explore.

The Grand Trunk Trail features flat gravel trails. The Woodland and River Trails features soil/rocky substrate and areas with narrow footpaths and moderately rugged terrain with roots and rocks.

Curated by Guy Few, Artistic Director of NUMUS

Featured artists include:

• January Rogers, free poet
• Jodi Contin, traditional singer and drummer
• Daniel Ramjattan, classical guitarist 
• Ciro Perono, singer-songwriter
• Gerard Yun, Lakota flute
• Andrew Jacob Rinehart, sound installation and composer (Music for Trees)

11:30 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.: Lunch

Sandwiches and wraps provided by Seven Shores Cafe.  

1:00 to 4:30 p.m.: BioBlitz (CANCELLED) 

The BioBlitz has been CANCELLED due to the risk of thunderstorms and heavy rain in the afternoon. 

Become a community scientist and learn from experts in the field about how to find and identify species of plants, animals and insects while exploring rare’s Cliffs and Alvars trail systems during the BioBlitz.

What is a BioBlitz? A short period of biological surveying where a group of experts, naturalists and community members explore an area and record as many species as they can to help inform future research.

All experience levels are welcome! Guided hikes will be leaving every hour from the ECO Centre (1:00, 2:00 and 3:00 p.m.). Together, we will explore areas of the Cliffs and Alvars trail system with soil/rocky substrate and areas with narrow footpaths and moderately rugged terrain from roots and rocks. 

rare gratefully acknowledges the financial support provided by the TD Friends of the Environment Foundation for the project titled “Creating a Community Science Biodiversity Collection at rare", the Community Environmental Fund administered by the Regional Municipality of Waterloo, and the Entomological Society of Ontario.

3:00 to 4:30 p.m.: Sun Marks on a Tilted Planet: a cyanotype workshop for artists led by Lisa Hirmer

This workshop is designed for artists and invites participants to experiment together with making cyanotypes, a camera-less type of direct photo print that uses a specially coated paper, sunlight and water. Come with a project or loose idea to test out on site, then together we’ll discuss the medium and collaboratively review our project results.

All materials and supplies provided.

Space is limited, so register early!

Suitable for artists, 16+

"Becoming and Moving" by Alexandra Gelis - A Plant-Based Workshop on Fiber-Making and Movement in Response to Landscape with Victoria Mata

This immersive two part workshop explores the interconnectedness of nature, migration and movement through the lens of two resilient plants: Cattail and Phragmites. This event responds to the land, the wind, the water and all the living beings in the territory known as the “rare protected area.” It represents the next chapter of an artistic residency at rare from 2022 to 2023. "Becoming and Moving" is the collaborative creation of media artist and researcher Alexandra Gelis and dancer and choreographer Victoria Mata.

1:00 to 2:30 p.m.: Plant Fiber-Making and Migration Stories (Part I)

Join us for a hands-on workshop where we will gather Phragmites, Cattails, and plant remnants from the community farm to create fibre pieces using traditional paper-making techniques. These small sheets of fibre will be crafted to collaboratively develop an ephemeral, site-specific, and land sculpture that will stay on the land to get absorbed back into the land in which we gathered the plants—reflecting the local ecologies of water, soil, plants, and human narratives.

As we work, we will weave personal narratives of belonging and migration, crafting a sculpture that reflects our interconnections with the land and the intricate web of life thriving amidst the Cattail and Phragmites plants. 

This collective piece will be a sculptural centerpiece for the afternoon's movement improvisation performance.

During the workshop, we will discuss the migration of seeds and the arrival of the Phragmites plant to Canada highlighting the parallels between plant and human migration.

Space is limited, so register early!

4:45 to 5:45 p.m.: Performance by Victoria Mata (Part II)

Join accomplished dancer and choreographer Victoria Mata as she translates the stories and connections shared in the "Becoming and Moving" workshop into a movement exploration. Responding to plant fibres, personal narratives, and the landscape, she will navigate the complex relationships between human and more-than-human realms. The wearable sculpture, embodying our shared journeys, will be animated by Victoria's movements through the landscape of rare. Participants will witness and partake in this fusion of movement, installation and botanical knowledge.

Research, Sound and Land Sculpture: Alexandra Gelis
Dancer and Choreographer: Victoria Mata
Wearable piece: IxBalam, Maxine Baker in collaboration with Victoria Mata and Alexandra Gelis.

Accessibility

• A portion of the Sound Walk will take place along the Grand Trunk Trail which features flat gravel trails. The side trails, which include the Woodland and River Trail, feature soil/rocky substrate, areas with narrow footpaths and moderately rugged terrain with roots and rocks.
• The BioBlitz will explore the side trails which feature soil/rocky substrate, areas with narrow footpaths and moderately rugged terrain with roots and rocks.
• Artistic workshops will take place at the Slit Barn which has ground level entry and the Resource House which has an accessible ramp and automated door.
• Accessible washroom at ground level located at the ECO Centre.

Community Partners

Presented By