Meet Me
at the Creek:
A Mobile Exhibit
An invitation to linger under mobile sculptures built from objects found along Schneider Creek.
Inter Arts Matrix (Globe Studios)
141 Whitney Pl, Kitchener
February 20 – March 6, 2025
EXTENDED DATES:
Thursday, March 13, 1-4pm
Friday, March 14, 1-4pm
Saturday, March 15, 1-4pm
Featuring student-created work from Courtland Avenue Public School and soundscapes by Sydney Lancaster and Kofi Xaycama
Curated by Shalaka Jadhav, Geoff Martin, and Natalie Vuong
Produced by The Creek Collective and Textile
Meet Me at the Creek extends an invitation to linger along Schneider Creek. Though the creek is the primary stormwater drain for more than half of Kitchener’s surface area, most residents likely don’t consider where the water runs exactly. Meet Me at the Creek is part of a wider effort at reimagining Schneider Creek as a community member who is essential to life in Kitchener.
Through 2024, the curatorial team collected objects and natural materials from five sites along the creek. Over a series of workshops, these materials were studied and closely considered by two grade eight classes at Courtland Avenue Public School. Using these found objects, the students built mobiles — kinetic sculptures — that balance form and motion. Alongside their mobiles, students were asked: “How did these objects find themselves in the creek, and how might they be connected to each other?” These questions resulted in imaginative group conversations and short, fictional stories that take place along the creek.
In the gallery, two looping soundscapes bring attention to the man-made concrete interferences that shape Schneider Creek today, as well as the human and more-than-human life that depends on these waters. Artist Kofi Xaymaca brings attention to this meddling in Steal Myself Back, a collaboration between elemental ancestors, writers published in Textile’s Issue II: Space[s], and the many animals living on the traditional land of Haudenosaunee, Anishinaabeg, and Attawandaron folk. Similarly, in the audio from 2024’s surface/tension audiowalk, artist Sydney Lancaster mixes field recordings from the creek with musical performances to explore the entangled relationships between our city, the creek, and the muted life along the banks.
Meet Me at the Creek is a reminder of our daily reliance on Schneider Creek, bringing attention to the flow of objects through our city and our connection as neighbours through seemingly unseen ways.
We would like to thank Waterloo Region Community Fund, Region of Waterloo, City of Kitchener, City of Waterloo, Musagetes Foundation
for their support in realizing the workshops and exhibition.
for their support in realizing the workshops and exhibition.
EVENTS
- Courtland Avenue Public School Community Opening: Wednesday, February 26, 3:00pm – 4:00pm
-
Public Opening: Wednesday, February 26, 6:00pm – 8:30pm
-
Creek Impressions: a collaborative relief-printing & pattern-making workshop:
Tuesday, March 4, 6:00pm – 8:30pm (please register here) —supplies provided, no experience necessary, registration required
PRESS
CBC Kitchener-Waterloo
Karis Mapp
Mar. 10, 2025
“Meet Me at the Creek: A Mobile Exhibit”
Interview with Geoff Martin and Shalaka Jadhav
Listen on Spotify
March 10, 2025
YOUTH ARTS WORKSHOP (November 2024)