The Gather-Ring, a wood, metal and glass installation in the plaza on the Ottawa side of the Portage Bridge, created by Carleton University Architecture Prof. Manuel Báez and several collaborators, will remain on display until at least August 2019.
The artwork, built last summer as part of the Department of Canadian Heritage’s sesquicentennial Art in the Capital competition, was originally scheduled to remain a year in the location. It’s a prominent public spot offering a panoramic view of the Ottawa River, Victoria Island, the parliamentary precinct, the curves of the Douglas Cardinal-designed Museum of History in Gatineau, and the Confederation Loop trail that connects the waterfronts of the two cities.
The Gather-Ring was inspired by a pair of iconic symbols deeply rooted in Indigenous culture: the tree and the dream catcher.
With benches made from eastern white pine logs recovered from the Ottawa River and Douglas fir columns from British Columbia, it was built in collaboration with glass artist Charlynne Lafontaine and a multicultural crew of Architecture students. It was welcomed onto unceded Algonquin territory by members of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. The installation makes a powerful statement about historical perspective, cross-cultural connections and the circles and cycles of life.
“It’s an offering to the entire community,” says Báez, an artist, designer and architect licensed in New York whose work is heavily influenced by natural systems and processes, an ethos that resonates with Indigenous worldviews.
“When you sit on one of the benches, you’re being asked, in a way, to think about what was here before 1867. It’s a place to get together and talk and reflect on the past — and on the present and future.”
Friday, June 15, 2018 in News Releases
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