Mike MacDonald: Planting one Another

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Curated by Lisa Myers

Produced in partnership with the Woodland Cultural Centre (Brantford)

A project with care and coexistence at its core, Planting one Another features a twin re-planting of a Medicine and Butterfly garden by the late Mi’kmaq artist Mike MacDonald (1941-2006). Comprised primarily of plants that are indigenous to the Americas, the two gardens will be cared for by two organizations situated within the Haldimand Tract: the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery and the original site where the garden was first planted, the Woodland Cultural Centre.

Planting one Another is an outdoor garden installation that can be visited at any time. Please observe physical distancing among other visitors while exploring the garden.

MacDonald created gardens to make space for contemplation and to invite slow looking and interaction with medicine plants. Over five years, from the late 1980s into the early 1990s, MacDonald recorded testimony and created visual documents for the Gitxsan and Wetsuwet’en during their land claim challenges. While on location for a video shoot near Kitwanga BC in an area threatened by clear-cut logging, MacDonald’s encounters with butterflies inspired his understanding of their connection to medicine plants and healing. This was the seed of his numerous in-situ butterfly gardens created from 1995 to 2003 across the country from the Presentation House, North Vancouver to Mount Saint Vincent Gallery in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

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Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery

KWAG is Waterloo Region's leading public art gallery, connecting people and ideas through art, with a focus on the best of contemporary culture. Established in 1956 and incorporated in 1968, KWAG is a non-profit organization open to the public and administered in the public trust. The Gallery emphasizes contemporary art, often premiering works by Canadian and international artists. Exhibitions frequently draw upon selections from over 4000 works from the Permanent Collection to provide a context and forum for dialogue on current exhibitions and contemporary issues. KWAG plays a vital educational role in the community, offering a full spectrum of artistic experience for adults, children and families alike.

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