Procession
A public procession inaugurated The Tenant. I organized a grouop walk that traced the parallel exodus of both textile workers and artists from the Mile End to Chabanel. As more artists move into Chabanel, rent is increasing and textile workers have begun to move out, leaving equipment, rolls of fabric, unsold wares and other sundry items behind.
I invited artists who moved their studio spaces from Clark’s building to Chabanel to join in a walking procession from Chabanel back to Clark. This walk reversed the trajectory of their respective relocations, while also transporting a selection of detritus abandoned by closed textile shops from Chabanel to Clark. In being transported in this performative manner, the objects were doubly-charged both as artifacts of the garment industry and its parallel exodus from the Mile End, and as the artifacts of the procession as a performance enacted by the assembled artists. The procession involved nine other artists, lasted a duration of two hours and covered a distance of 5.5 kilometers.
Participating artists: Celia Perrin-Sidarous, John Player, Juan Ortiz-Apuy, Sarah Pupo, Valérie Blass, Caroline Mauxion, Karen Kraven, Matt Shane, Cynthia Girard-Renard.
