Cartographies of Longing: Poetry & Nature Connection Workshop Series with Sheniz Janmohamed

The Doris McCarthy Gallery has invited Sheniz Janmohamed to respond to Cartographies of Longing as Poet-in-Residence. Drawing on her creative practice as a writer, artist, educator, and certified Forest Bathing Guide, Janmohamed has developed a series exploring the works of the exhibiting artists through guided prompts and reflections, poetry writing, and nature reconnection activities. 

Free, open to the public. Registration required for the first three sessions; the last session is drop-in. Each session has its own registration page; you may register for one, two, or all three. Light refreshments will be served at each.

Session 1 / October 1
Tracing Ancestral Lines: Earth
1 - 2:30 pm
To register

There are elders younger than you. There are elders you can only visit in dreams. Visit them all. Learn their stories. We are never as alone as we think. - Mark Gonzales

In this session, participants will explore works in the exhibition that touch upon themes of lineage, matrilineal connection, and ancestry. Through grounding reflection and gentle prompts, they will be encouraged to write about their own ancestral connections and responsibility to place and the land itself. The second half of the session will incorporate a nature walk to the Ma Moosh Ka Win Valley Trail where participants will spend some time with “Mother Trees” (Mother Trees are the oldest trees in the forest, serving as a mitochondrial hub for younger trees).

Part of this session will be held outdoors, rain or shine; please dress for the weather.

Session 2 / October 22
A Palimpsest of Remembering: Air
1 - 2:30 pm
To register

Longing is the sound of the wind. ― Mahmoud Darwish, In the Presence of Absence

In this session, participants will explore the works of artists who explore memory by recollection, recursion and/or retelling. Participants will be guided through gentle writing prompts to explore what we remember, how we remember and what is also forgotten. The second half of the session will incorporate a nature walk to the Ma Moosh Ka Win Valley Trail where participants will be guided to notice where past, present and future meet in the natural world. How is memory layered? What is remembered through sound?

Part of this session will be held outdoors, rain or shine; please dress for the weather.

Session 3 / November 18
Honouring Diasporic Grief: Water
9:30 am - 11 am
To register

“Grief expressed out loud, whether in or out of character, unchoreographed and honest, for someone we have lost, or a country or home we have lost, is in itself the greatest praise we could ever give them. Grief is praise, because it is the natural way love honours what it misses.” ― Martin Prechtel, The Smell of Rain on Dust: Grief and Praise

In this session, participants will explore works in the exhibition that touch upon themes of displacement and diasporic grief, and will be gently led through a prompt that allows them to explore both grief and praise through the medium and metaphor of water. The second half of the session will incorporate a nature walk to the Ma Moosh Ka Win Valley Trail where participants will “speak their grief” to the land.

Part of this session will be held outdoors, rain or shine; please dress for the weather.

Session 4 / December 2
Regeneration & Reclaiming Joy: Fire
Creative Clinic & Indoor Forest Bathing
Drop In, 11 am - 7 pm, Artist present from 11 am - 1 pm

“In the deep snow moons of winter, there are stories hovering around us. They are whispered by the voices of our ancestors, told in ancient tongues, told in the hope that we will hear them. Listen. In the drape of moonbeams across a canvas of snow, the lilt of birdsong, the crackle of a fire…” - Richard Wagamese

In this drop-in session, participants will move their way through an indoor forest bathing experience, choose their own nature and social prescriptions, and explore themes of regeneration present in the gallery. Participants will be encouraged to reignite that inner fire that allows them to create, rest and reclaim. 

–

These programs involve sitting indoors and walking outdoors. The Doris McCarthy Gallery and Ma Moosh Ka Win Trail are both wheelchair accessible. If you have accommodation needs, please let us know through the registration form or contact dmg.utsc@utoronto.ca.