Focus Exhibition curator, Rhéanne Chartrand, presents a her curatorial statement written in the form of a poem
the place you long for
the place you feel safe
the place you create inside your mind and heart
a place of joy, of tension, of strife, of growth
of lessons learned and love lost
of abundance and emptiness
a place where we experience our first hopes and dreams
a place from which we wish to break free
it’s the walls, the floors, the table at which we once sat
with our grannies, aunties, and mothers
a place for tea and teachings
for discord and healing
at times, both soft and hard
broken and whole
home makes us who we are
tangible and intangible
real or imagined
it’s the parquet beneath our feet
it’s the soil between our toes
home surrounds us
the land calls us back
to the earth in which our ancestors are buried
it can feel both familiar and foreign all the same
it’s where we land
softly or weighted
to take rest and refuge
home is what we make it
nesting
home is with whom we are in relation
family
home is this body of mine
self
pale blue dot
safe harbour in an ever-expanding universe
in truth, it is the only home we know
it is the only home we can know
born of it
we are it and it is us
stardust
it shaped us
form
it cradled us
care
it gave us life
breathe
our mother
the place to which we return