The first pebble mosaic of the Countdown Public Art project unveiled in Eganville in 2016. (Photo Credit: Maureen MacMillan, supplied by ReDefine Arts)
The creators behind a line of art projects calling to end gender-based violence is coming back to celebrate where it all began in Eganville.
ReDefine Arts will host Countdown Live: a free community concert in Gerald Tracey Park on Sunday, September 20, which will bring residents, local organizations, and representatives from surrounding communities to recognize ten years of collective action on a topic that co-artistic director Tristan R. Whiston says affects everybody.
Since the group finished their first large scale pebble mosaic for the Countdown project locally in 2016, their work has expanded to include mosaics in more than a dozen other communities and around 300 smaller monuments across Ontario.
The monuments act as an invitation to keep imagining and building safer communities with the goal of being able to count down towards the end of gender-based violence, and Whiston says coming back to the project’s starting point ten years later matters.
Following opening words from Pikwakanagan Elder Aimee Bailey and speaker Anna MacDonald, Whiston invites the residents and guests to enjoy a full afternoon of live entertainment from the likes of RAW Taiko, The Salt Cellars, Lyra Ensemble, Sigrid & Lady Flora, and The Countdown Community Choir.
The concert will cap off a summer where the Countdown project has evolved to include workshops, gatherings, and a series of journeys between its Ottawa Valley monuments.
(written by Kasey Egan)
