Camila Vásquez –

November 2024

As part of her mediation workshop in November, Anabelle Brochu proposed a paper-mache container-making activity, during which she opened a space for reflection on the issues driving her social art residency project. She presented her approach (and the resulting workshop) in these words:

“My intention is to bring people together around an easily accessible and malleable medium, with which each person can create both a physical and symbolic receptacle for something precious to them. It could be, for example, a bowl for sensory toys, sweet nothings, sentimental jewelry, seasonal leaves or flowers… As part of my residency at Le Tremplin, I’m reflecting on the utilitarian and symbolic importance of containers. A cup is certainly a receptacle for a hot beverage, but it’s also the symbol of a moment of care for our bodies; a diffuser of warmth for our hands and for our sometimes-knotted throats, the authorization to settle down. Our bodies themselves are receptacles for our joys, secrets, sorrows and experiences. I hope that the workshop will be a moment of connection to what is most precious to the participants, as much through the choice of content, the form of the container as through the creation of its covering.”

Introducing the theme at the start of the workshop, Anabelle invited participants to ask themselves what containers in their current lives might have a symbolic dimension. Later, the topic of what people would like to “contain” in their receptacles helped determine the shape of their containers, which were then lined with fabrics, magazines, flowers and dried leaves. As the discussion progressed, participants created not only objects, but also mental images and new perceptions of this broad yet concrete concept.

Photo: Tremplin 16-30