handmade fire
ee portal
Golboo Amani’s Garden Skool, supported by the South Asian Visual Arts Centre, reached out to artists to skill share and exchange knowledge that extended diverse earth work practices to the community.
eeportal responded with a plan to make handmade fire - a meditation on one of the few remnant, urban black oak (Quercus velutina) savannahs in Southern Ontario, found in the heart of High Park, Toronto. Black oak savannahs, which once covered 2 million hectares of Southern Ontario, now exist in just a few small pockets. They were traditionally managed by fire, and fire practices have again been reinstated to reinvigorated this fragile ecosystem which is home to at least 32 rare plant species.
for handmade fire, eeportal worked diligently to start a fire on a damp, humid day, just after a heavy rain in downtown Toronto, but unlike the past, they were unsuccessful with their bow-drill technique. After hours of failed attempts, and as the night fell on the labourers, one of the participants assisted them with a flint device. A talking circle ensued.
tinder bundle: birch, milkweed, plants
bow drill: wood, string
collage: dialogues with black oak - carbon, paper, rice paste
additional performance photographs and review by Golboo Amani
