by Edith Cody-Rice
Last Saturday, April 27, more than 100 admirers turned up at the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum to view and celebrate the new installation Net-Work by Adrian Baker and to quaff wine and nibble cheese while wandering among the its colourful strands. A full explanation of this exhibition was published in the Millstone on April 22.
Adrian initiated the Net-Work project at the beginning of 2020 via email and social media posts, inviting contributors to make long yarn or textile-based “strands” representing the underground network of connection in our forests. They could be knitted, crocheted, woven, orn use any other hand-crafted technique, preferably employing reused or recycled materials. When Covid hit, the project took off.
Adrian was overwhelmed by the response. Strands arrived from almost every Canadian province and territory, from fifteen American states, and from eleven different countries. Many pieces have come from participants in Almonte, Carleton Place, Ottawa, and other Eastern Ontario locations. People came from as far away as Montreal and Oakville to participate in the opening and I heard visitors asking Adrian where their strands were in the installation.
It was a joyous occasion with much chatting and mingling. Although Adrian describes Net-Work as expressing the underground connection of trees, it is also a tribute to community participation, the coming together to create a work of art.
Net-Work is on display until July 6.
