Curators: Jeff Thomas and Patrick Mahon

This exhibition brings together 20 artists and writers who engage in decolonial critique, environmental activism, and 21st century artistic practices to address what is arguably the problem of our times: environmental catastrophe. It asks how we can work together, and create together as a global community to restore the planet – while respecting differences, and seeking to repair divisions and address injustices brought about by colonialism. 

The exhibition features works produced over a two-year period – the results of conversations between the artists and writers, oftentimes with members of their local communities. Among the works resulting from those creative dialogues, artist Adrian Stimson has produced new work at his home on the Siksika Reserve in Alberta, focusing on learning about the children’s Bumble Bee Society and working with a local beadworker to produce ceremonial regalia covered with 300 beaded bumble bees. India-born, London-based artist, Sharmistha Kar, has produced a tent structure embroidered in multiple languages with words that her refugee and immigrant collaborators, residing in London, associate with “home.”  Victoria Harbour, ON, artist Michael Farnan has a produced a giant map-like drawing, which he notes, “illustrates historical ‘settlement’ narratives (colonial invasion), of the Great Lakes region of Canada, as well as their intersections with (forced) Indigenous displacement (Reservations and Treaties), and the non-human life of bird, fish, and mammal.” 

This exhibition is a multi-sensory experience that inhabits the Ivey Galleries and spills into adjacent areas of the Museum, both inside and out. Comprising textiles, photography, sculpture, video, gardening, and installation, the show invites visitors to see and to engage with aesthetically rich and culturally complex artworks that are simultaneously provocative and challenging, and also sources of hope. 

Featuring: Ron Benner, Lori Blondeau, Sean Caulfield, Paul Chartrand, Tom Cull, Amelia Faye, Michael Farnan, Joan Greer, Jamelie Hassan, Sharmistha Kar, Jessica Karuhanga, Mark Kasumovic, Patrick Mahon, Mary Mattingly, Quinn Smallboy, Ashley Snook, Adrian Stimson, Jeff Thomas, Andrés Villar, Michelle Wilson

Companion Exhibitions and Programming

GardenShip and State Journals and Seed Packets

Get creative with a free activity journal (designed for adults) full of art-inspired prompts to spark your imagination; then head to the Central branch library for your free seed packet.

GardenShip and State Artwork Activations 

Three artists in this exhibition have created works intended for public interaction. In order to maintain Covid safety measures these will be available to use during hours when exhibition Attendants are on-site to assist with direction and hand sanitizing. Please check in advance with the front desk of the Museum to confirm availability the day of your visit.

Michelle Wilson
Artwork: Forced Migration
Hours: Thursdays to Sundays, October 7, 2021 to January 23, 2022, 11:00 am to 5:00 pm

Mary Mattingly
Artwork: Ecotopian Library
Hours:  Saturdays and Sundays, October 9, 2021 to January 23, 2022. 1:00 to 4:00 pm.

Sharmistha Kar
Artwork: Soft Shelter - Walking Together
Hours: Saturdays and Sundays (2nd weekend of each month), October 9-10, November 13-14, December 11-12, and January 8-9. 1:00 to 4:00 pm

London Public Library Cross-Programming: Mary Mattingly
October 7, 2021 to January 23, 2022 
3rd Floor, Central Branch, 251 Dundas St.  

Artist, Mary Mattingly, from Brooklyn, NY, is presenting the interactive work, Ecotopian Library, in GardenShip and State, at Museum London. We are pleased to collaborate with the London Public Library, to present a companion exhibition and interactive library dedicated to productive, future-minded knowledge and creativity. Visitors may explore books, artefacts and artworks related to the future sustainability of the planet, and pick up a corn seed packet for planting!  

When you enter the Library on the ground level, watch for signage directing you to the 3rd floor of the building, to this exciting extension of GardenShip and State. 

Minga Café: Paul Chartrand 
October 7, 2021 to January 23, 2022 
Minga Café, Dunnville, ON 

Artist, Paul Chartrand, is presenting the living, growing artwork, Hydroponic Harvest Table, as part of GardenShip and State. Museum London is pleased to collaborate with the Minga Café in Dunnville, ON, to present this engaging work that is showing via live-stream in the Museum.  

The Minga café offers healthy whole-food meals at accessible prices to encourage healthy eating habits. It is a not-for-profit café and community centre where patrons can gather for the common good. It was established in 2014 to provide a meeting space for the DREAM mentoring program. 

During GardenShip and State, Paul Chartrand will engage with the Minga’s community, including by sharing the edible plants grown to spell the word “Sustain,” within Hydroponic Harvest Table. 

Support Gallery Companion Exhibition Project: Paul Chartrand & Michelle Wilson October 20 – November 6, 2021
Sowing Clay 260b Clarence St, London, ON

Join us to make clay links and form community.

Sowing Clay brings together communities to create a memorial to land and water defenders killed protecting the more-than-human. Paul Chartrand and Michelle Wilson lead this collaborative project, which calls on participants from across Turtle Island to create a monumental installation. When completed, this memorial will comprise a chain of over 700 open links formed from unfired, locally gathered clay. Each link in the chain will carry one etched name and native seeds mixed into the clay body. When joined together, the links resemble intertwined arms, harkening to non-violent resistance movements and protests.

Workshops must be registered for ahead of time and will be limited to five masked and vaccinated participants.

More information and registration at: https://www.gardenship.ca/sowi...