ABBY PAIGE

As my residency draws to a close, I am looking forward to the last few RITES that I will perform at the Beaverbrook Art Gallery this weekend.

Evidential Rite
Saturday, July 28, 12-5pm
I’ll spend Saturday afternoon in the main gallery, inviting visitors to participate in this RITE, designed to explore how art speaks to us and whether we can talk back. Visitors will be offered sticky notes and pencils, which they can use to write or draw their responses to what they see as they move through the Gallery. Their messages will be left on the floor, at the feet of the artworks, accumulating over the course of the day to create a sort of “comments section,” a record of the day’s dialogues between artworks and viewers. Usually museum visitors are expected to leave no trace, but what will happen when they are invited to leave evidence of their presence? I hope you’ll come join in and find out!

Communal Rite: Open Studio & Staged Reading
Sunday, July 29, 12-5pm
In conjunction with the Gallery’s monthly Family Art Day, I’ll host an open studio on Sunday afternoon. It’s a time when people can come in, explore the artist-in-residence studio, learn about my creative process, and see what I’ve been working on. At 2pm I’ll give a short talk about my current work-in-progress, Ma Cousine des États, and perform a short excerpt that has never been seen by an audience before. The piece features comedy! French-Canadian folklore! Gruesome executions! And tackles the burning question, Can a woman in 18th Century Nouvelle France have it all? I always learn so much from sharing my work with others. I hope you’ll come and teach me!