Sense:
Fire, Water, Earth, Air
Antigonight: Art After Dark Festival | September 13 & 14, 2024
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The Antigonight: Art After Dark Festival returns for its 15th year, celebrating a decade and a half of artistic expression and community engagement.
Join us Friday September 13 for a crafting social at The Grind House (294 Main Street) from 7pm-10pm.
This main festival night will be held on Saturday September 14 from 7pm-10pm, transforming downtown Antigonish/Nalikitquniejk into a vibrant hub of creativity and innovation.
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The theme for this year’s festival is 'Sense: Fire, Water, Earth, Air', inviting artists and attendees alike to explore the elemental forces that shape our world and inspire our imagination. From immersive installations to live performances, the festival promises a diverse array of artistic experiences that will ignite the senses and foster a deeper connection to the natural elements.
Headlining Artists
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Kim Morgan & Jacinte Armstong | Neil Kehler | David Barclay | Will Baker & Cameryn Mattie
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Community Projects
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ACALA | Ada Denil | Breaking the Silence (BTS) | David Clark | Francine Dulong | Joshua Collins & Andrew Maize | L'Arche
Pam Leech | Qi Cai | Rachel Thornton | Interstellar Circus Arts | Magpie Collective | Stefano Dodaro
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Schedule
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7pm - Community meal begins
8pm - Interstellar Circus Arts performance
9pm - David Barclay
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Workshops
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All Evening:
Collaborative quilt with L’Arche
Brick painting with ACALA
Lanterns with Qi Cai
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7pm, 8pm, 9pm
Bracelet Weaving workshop
10 people each slot
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Together, Jacinte and Kim are creating an interactive sculpture that mimics the movement of the lungs and diaphragm. The fabric sculpture will be printed on lycra, bearing microscopic imagery of matter collected from the human body. Participant interaction with the sculpture will encourage collective movement.
For his project "Earth", Neil will visit farmers and fishers in Antigonish county to create a photo series to highlight local food production. The aim of the project is to promote local farmers to the communities they serve and encourage consumers to foster a relationship with where and who their food comes from.
David will present a guided listening of sounds recorded in the Mariana Trench, 2000m below sea level. Through the hypnotically ambient sounds, audiences will reflect on humans' relationship with the ocean as well as their own personal connection.
Together, Cameryn Mattie and Will Baker will host a pitfire pottery workshop, using foraged local plants and algae as glazes.
ACALA has been working on transforming the garden at the library with bricks painted with favourite book covers. Add yours at Antigonight!
"As far as, and…" is a site responsive, wind-activated sound sculpture made from a combination of new and repurposed and manipulated steel forms. Through complex but playful constructions and contraptions, Ada is working intentionally with the flux and uncertainty of meteorological events to produce unpredictable and intermittent auditory experiences.
Breaking the Silence will present a project comprised of a youth-led artistic call-and-response over summer between Nalikitquniejk/Antigonish & Rabinal, Guatemala, echoing historical memory.
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Joshua and Andrew will present an experimental installations exploring how the mechanics of mobiles translate the kinetic nature of phenomena such as light, water, wind through waves of motive/motion.
David will present a multi-screen video installation using footage from industrial films made in the 1950s and 60s by pioneering filmmaker Margaret Perry.
Francine and Haeweon will present an interactive object theatre piece on fungal imagination and the joy of decomposition in mycelial networks of Mi'kma'ki
L'Arche will guide participants through an activity where they can create a quilt block using paper and markers. Different colours will be used for the different elements. The blocks will be put together to create a quilt.
At 7pm, 8pm and 9pm, Pam will be running a cedar rope bracelet workshop as part of the festival.
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Please RSVP for your time slot at Pam's table. Spots are limited to ten per time slot.
Qi will lead participants through a lantern making workshop. Ink will be made using traditional methods and applied to already made paper lamps.
Drawing parallels between the cycles of decay and renewal in our lives and the lives of stars, Pulse layers patterns of tiny, microscopic cells and astronomically large star clusters. Taking inspiration from the pulsing of “heartbeat stars”, which have fluctuations in brightness that resemble an electrocardiogram of the human heart when graphed, this animation connects astronomical phenomena to a human scale and syncs the harmonious rhythms.
Interstellar Circus Arts will put on the show- Come Alive. This show will display creatures brought to life through creativity and movement. Additionally, the project title encapsulates what makes Interstellar Arts Come Alive which is the passion we channel into movement and circus arts. This show will include solo, as well as partner aerial acrobatics on a variety of apparatus.
The Magpie’s Nest is a curiosity cabinet, a vibrant collage of collective and individual passions for creativity and self expression.
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A structure, becomes an instrument, becomes a canvas. The tensegrity exhibit, titled Tower of the Four Elements, invites you to interact with the self-supporting structure, to strum the tension wires, to tap the fabric, and play the wooden beams, as the forces within the structure become expressed as sound. The tower represents our participation in the forces of nature, bringing forth our inner abilities to improvise, and to see our expressions resonate in the greater reality. Appropriate for all ages and abilities.
Meet the Team
Marite Kuus | Artistic Director
Marite Kuus is an artist and curator based in Kjipuktuk (Halifax), Mi'kma'ki (Nova Scotia). She is the co-founder of Galerie Cecile and Halifax Art Book Fair. Her craft practice is informed by the choreography of textile techniques, which often manifest as public installations and performances. She participated as an artist at Antigonight in 2023 with her back-strap weaving performance "Hold me, hold you" and has been a part of other outdoor arts festivals such as Nocturne in Halifax, NS and Radiant Rural Halls in PEI.
Tori Cook | Assistant to Festival Directors
Tori is going into her fourth year at St. FX, originally from Toronto. She loves art and art history and spends her free time painting. Tori absolutely loves Antigonish and the Maritimes and is excited for the opportunity to give back to the community and share her love of art. With her strong organizational skills and passion for making a difference, she's excited for the opportunity to work alongside the festival directors and contribute to the success of the upcoming event. After graduation, Tori hopes to attend to law school.
Brett Hershey | Festival Coordinator
Brett comes to Antigonight after several decades of finding the oddest jobs he could. He spent several years in the live entertainment industry, touring with musical acts, spent the next years as a paramedic and is now a consultant in Emergency Management, Community Development and Coordinating diverse events.
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Makayla King | Programming Coordinator
Makayla is from Antigonish County, where she grew up on a farm. She loves nature and animals, especially her two dogs. Currently a second-year Biochemistry student at the University of St Andrews in Scotland
Special Thanks To
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Addy Strickland | ACA board member
Fenn Martin | ACA board Chair
Carissa Ainslie | ACA Interim Arts Coordinator
Questions? Email us at antigonightartfest@gmail.com
Thank You Sponsors!
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Photo cred/Addy Strickland