CAFKA.18 came to a close on July 1, 2018. For those on the staff and board of directors, it was the culmination of two years of organizing and planning and a lot of hard work. I would like to acknowledge those who helped to make it happen and I have put together a scrap book of fond memories. I'll be adding more images as they come along.
As you can imagine, there are a lot of thank yous to be made. But I would be extra thankful to you, reader, if you could just take a few moments to complete the CAFKA.18 audience survey. Click on the link and it should take you no more than 5 minutes. Tops. I'll wait here for you while you do it . . .
Okay? Done? Let's go!
Many, many, many thanks to board members Michelle Purchase, GlodeaneBrown, Tara Cooper, Cherie Fawcett, Aaron Francis, Victoria Kent, Jessie Lacayo, Thomas Nagy, Bryn Ossington, Johanna Smolders and Lauren Weinberg. The CAFKA board is a working board, and board members contribute many, many unpaid hours to making it all happen. Special thanks to Michelle Purchase for her unwavering commitment, to GlodeaneBrown for carrying the CAFKA message so brilliantly across social media, to Victoria Kent for her relentless pursuit of sponsorship, to Tara Co0perandher partner Terry O'Neill for their videographyand to Aaron Francis for developing such an amazing program of live performance for ARENA. And thank you to Jen Love who dedicated so much time and energy to CAFKA and who decided to leave the board at the end of the exhibition. We miss your presence already.
I counted 14 people who participated in the adjudication of the 284 artist proposals we received for CAFKA.18. Thank you to Iga Janik, GlodeaneBrown, Victoria Kent, Steve Lavigne, Rex Lingwood, Lauren Weinberg, Mars Orlowska, Michelle Purchase, Cherie Fawcett, Elwood Jimmy, Nicole Neufeld, Meg Harder, Agnes Niewiadomskiand Catherine Bischoff. Thank you for your hard work and the serious consideration each of you gave to the proposals by the submitting artists.
I want to thank our Festival Partners the Open Ears Festival of Music and Sound and Summer Lights and our Curatorial Partners University of Waterloo Art Gallery, Critical Media Lab, Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery, Open Sesame and Cambridge Sculpture Garden. We are all working together to bring visual art culture to the public spaces of the Region.
CAFKA’s sponsors provided the funding to make the biennial happen and below you will find a listing of the CAFKA projects and their sponsors. But the big picture is this: CAFKA.18 could not have happened without the significant support of the Canada Council’s Explore and Create fund. On behalf of CAFKAI want to thank program officers Francois Dion and Genevieve Landrevillefor their support and for making the trip to the Region to see the exhibition.
CAFKA is indebted to City of Kitchener Arts & Culture Coordinator Emily Robson, KarolineVarin, Hilary Abel and everyone at the City of Kitchener who did so much this year to help make the CAFKA biennial happen. Emily has the ability to cut through the toughest city hall red tape and make stuff happen. Her middle name should be "I've got this". City of Kitchener: You guys rock. But you already knew that.
I'd like to express my deep appreciation to the Musagetesboard and founders for their support of CAFKA and especially to Valerie Hall, who in June stepped back from her duties at Musagetes. Valerie’s long-time support and encouragement has been a crucial factor in CAFKA’s success. Valerie, you will be missed!
I want to acknowledge the ongoing support of the Ontario Arts Council who constantly pushes us to be better. It was a special pleasure to see Interim Associate Visual Arts and Craft Officer Annette Mangaardduring the opening day tour.
CAFKA’s many individual donors and volunteers make the biennial possible. Thank you to Rex Lingwoodand Wendy Mitchinsonfor their generous ongoing support. Whether working as a key member of the ARENA production team or helping to dig flag pole holes, Rex was always there to solve problems and to make complicated and difficult jobs a little less difficult. Thanks also to Dan McCormick, whose generous donation this year was matched by his employer Adobe Systems. Thank you, WestmountSigns, for sponsoring our A-frames and to Civilian Printing for producing our distinctive RECOGNIZE EVERYONE t-shirts. Thank you to Smile.io and TAME THE LANE 2018 and thank you to the Walper Hotel.
Andrea Deeringworked brilliantly to integrate Robert Dayton's unique graphic into our exhibition guide and worked with CAFKA staff and volunteers to organize the content. Thank you, Andrea, for your patience and persistence.
Lastly, I want to personally thank Alan Zeberek, Mars Orlowskaand Isaac Ayala whose support in the office and in the field was so important. Alan and Mars were funded with the help of the Working Centre. Thank you, Sarah Johnson, for helping to make those two happen. Isaac came to us a co-op student from Cameron Heights Collegiate Institute. You guys were awesome.
There are still a lot of acknowledgements to make. I have gathered the names of the sponsors, staff and volunteers and collaborating organizations above each set of photos. Please enjoy!
Gordon Hatt, Fall 2018
CAFKA.18 by Robert Dayton
Rotunda Gallery, Kitchener City Hall, 200 King Street West, Kitchener. Toronto-based artist and UniverisityofWaterloo MFA graduate Robert Dayton developed the branding and illustrations for CAFKA.18. The original artwork for the branding was exhibited in the Rotunda Gallery. Framing and installation by Michelle Purchase with Isaac Ayala.
Tipping Point by Andréanne Abbondanza-Bergeron (Montreal)
Kitchener City Hall Rotunda, 200 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Sponsored by NEO Architecture. Installation by the artist AndréanneAbbondanza-Bergeron, with the support of Alan Zeberek, Mark Resmer, Mike Ambedian, Isaac Ayala, Tee Kundu, Tom Nagy, Matthew Mousseau with technical support from Whiting Design.
Head Man by Eunjung Hwang (New York)
Kitchener City Hall, 200 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Installation by Gordon Hatt, Mark Resmer, Mike Ambedian, Rex LingwoodandAlan Zeberek. Fabrication by M Direction Membrane Design, Mohyeon-myeon, Republic of Korea.
ARENA by Benoit Maubrey (Berlin)
Kitchener City Hall, 200 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Sponsored by Celebrate Ontario, the Schwartz Family, and the City of Kitchener. Performing artists made possible with the support of Vidyard. Fabrication assembly and operation by Benoit Maubry, JagoWhitehead, Rex Lingwood, Mark Resmer, Johnny Camara, Carolyn Ernest, John Schanck, Don Leibold, Thomas Vicario, Russ Campbell, Frank Seglenieks, Vinay Yuvashankar with co-ordination and support from Mars Orlowska. Special thanks to Ron and Patrick Doyle at Lot 42 and Kristen Gillette at Communitech. ARENA programming by Aaron Francis with the support of Bronwyn Bataillard. Thank you to everyone who donated their used speakers to the ARENA project.
Church by Anna van Milligen (Guelph)
Berlin Tower Gallery, Kitchener City Hall, 200 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Installation by Anna and Tom van Milligen. Carpet installation by David Isenor.
Stone, Clay, Fire: Making a Circle by Don Russell (Cambridge)
rare Charitable Research Reserve, 1679 Blair Rd. Produced by CAFKA. With the support of Region of Waterloo Arts Fund. Installation by Don Russell and Alan Zeberek. Thank you to Stephanie Sobek-SwantandMackenzie Lespéranceandthe rare Charitable ReasearchReserve. With support from Emily Traichel, Patrick Cull, Cherie Fawcett, Tiffany Howes, Tee Kundu, Carolyn Earnest. Special thanks to Elder Peter Schulerfromthe Mississaugasofthe Credit First Nation.
Guided by Streams by Susan Blight (Toronto)
Transportation Hub Lot, 500 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Sponsored by the Region of Waterloo. Installation by Rex Lingwood, Alan Zeberek, Gordon Hatt. Flag poles by A1 Flags.
Recognize Everyone by Lucy Pullen (New York)
ThalmicLabs, 27 GaukelStreet. Produced by CAFKA. Sponsored by Thalmic Labs. Installation by Luc Pullen, Don Miller, Alan Zeberek, Sebastian Koever. Special thanks to Michelle Purchase for project management.
Common by Marie Claire LeBlanc Flanagan (Berlin)
Various sites in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge. Produced by CAFKA. Marie Claire introduced people to the Common play experience through the course of the biennial at Cafe Pyrus, THEMUSEUM, The Yeti, Matter of Taste, Kwartzlab, Idea Exchange, Tame the Lane, Kitchener Market, Open Sesame, Princess Cafe, Fresh Ground, Institute for Quantum Computing and at Jack Burger.
CAFKA Alley Cat Rally
The CAFKA AlleyCat Rally was organized Carolyn Ernest, Linday Orr, Beth Timmers and John Schanck, with a special guest appearance by Torin Langen as Waldo. Sponsored by Black Arrow Cycles, Jack Burger, Ziggy's Cycles, Full Circle Foods, J&P Grocery, Legacy Greens, Goodvibes Juice Co., and A Second Look Books.
[i carry your heart with me (i carry it in] by Dawn Matheson (Guelph)
City Hall Cube, 200 King Street West. Produced by CAFKA. Dawn Matheson's video was projected on the cube above the Kitchener City Hall. On June 8 she spoke about the work at Open Sesame with actor Nora Stasinkiewicz present. Thank you to the City of Kitchener and Open Sesame for making Dawn Matheson's talk possible. The work was screened simultanelously as a trailer at the Princess Theatre in Waterloo and at the Apollo Theatre in Kitchener.
ENSEMBLE by At The Reception: Kiersten Holden-Ada, Michael McCormack, and Zak Miller-Ada (Halifax)
16 Goudies Lane, Kitchener. Produced by CAFKA. Installation by Kiersten Holden-Ada, Michael McCormick, Rex Lingwood, Alan Zeberek, Ian Newton, Gordon Hatt, Tee Kundu and Karen Malcolm. Audio/visual by Sherwood Systems.
Community Thoughts by St Marie φ Walker (Kitchener)
Various sites in Midtown KW. Produced by CAFKA. Installation by Denise St. Marie and Timothy Walker. Special thanks to the Midtown KW Community initiative and Emily Robson.
Negotiating +/- by Marcia Huyer (Toronto)
Conestoga Mall, 550 King Street North. Produced by CAFKA. Sponsored by Conestoga Mall. Installation by Marcia Huyer, Robert Hengeveld, Milan Kozimura. Technical support Gordon Hicks. Extra special thanks to Rhonda Richmond and Ivanhoe Cambridge.
CAFKA FAMILY DAYS
Flag-Making Workshop With Sail and the Fine Arts students from the University of Waterloo; Thought Buttons with Denise St. Marie and Timothy Walker of St. Marie and Walker; Printmaking Maps with Michelle Purchase; Optical Illusion with Artshine; Self Portrait AgamographswithAgnes Niewiadomskiof Mindful Makers and the CAFKA Lemonade Marketing team.
CAFKA gratefully acknowledges its supporters
Art Stars
Rex Lingwood & Wendy Mitchinson
The Schwartz Family
Brian Hawthornthwaite, Dan McCormick
Gerhard & Hilda Pries
Ron Harder, Trent Bauman, Anthony Salomone, Tara Cooper
Artists
