It’s over. The great adventure of CAFKA.14 has come to an end. Guided by Artistic Director Karie Liao, who took over the program from Sarah Kernohan in August of 2013, CAFKA produced 17 artist projects and performances in Kitchener and Waterloo. CAFKA was joined by our festival partners Open Ears and Summer Lights, and by our Curatorial Partners Cambridge Galleries/Idea Exchange, Cambridge Sculpture Garden, City of Kitchener, City of Waterloo, Critical Media Lab, and University of Waterloo Art Gallery. Two and a half years of scouting, planning, designing, negotiating and one solid month of lifting, digging, wrapping, building, wiring, painting and installing: Thirty-One days of contemporary art.
There are many, too many people and organizations to thank here. A couple of shout outs: To Christie Digital, whose support this year gave us an added boost and encouragement when we badly needed it going into the home stretch, a big thank you. And to all those new friends we met through Indiegogo: You guys understand what it takes to make art happen and stepped up when it counted. It was inspiring and humbling to see your support. To CAFKA.14 Volunteers: You are amazing. You did everything from digging holes to climbing scaffolding, painting houses to security duty to trouble-shooting the virtual environment. Those from outside of the community see CAFKA as it is: A large, community-based barn-raising event.
I can’t think of too many cities in the world where people get to put on an exhibition as funky as this every couple of years. On behalf of everyone at CAFKA, thank you and see you again in 2016!