Indigenous public art unveiling in Pickering Nov. 1

A new permanent public art in Pickering – ayukwęnǫdih (‘They have found their voice’) – will be unveiled to the public November 1.

The spiral sculpture, created by Jah Qube (Javid Jah & Alex Akbari) in collaboration with Catherine Tammaro, symbolizes the “continuous evolution of trade and ancestral voices within the land.”

In Wyandot culture, certain individuals could hear the natural world, and the spiral, resembling the ear’s inner apparatus, represents this. The artwork invites reflection on the Indigenous pathway that was colonized and transformed into Hwy 2.

Members of the public are invited to see the unveiling of the sculpture at the northwest corner of Whites Road and Kingston Road (Highway 2) at 1 p.m. on November 1. Shuttle buses will leave City Hall at 12:40 and 12:50 p.m. to take guests to the site.

Jah described ayukwęnǫdih as a “site-specific story” of the continuous evolution of trade. “This trade is beyond economic terms – it encompasses the exchange of ideas and an openness to education. In our public art practice, we use geometry as a lens to feature the main characters of the stories we tell. For us, this notion of a trade route is best expressed through the movement of a spiral. The ‘goods’ or fruits of the trade are like a crystal, expressing openness through a void in its 3D geometry. The intersection of these geometric forces creates a balance between the curved and the linear, between presence and absence, between history and a projection of the future.”

Wyandot Elder Catherine Tammaro, Jah added, was brought onto the team to be a collaborative artist on the project, sharing her experience and perspective on how this sculpture is a representation of “finding our voice.”

Jah also noted that the spiral form in art often honours the feminine – in contrast to the linear symbolizing masculine – and is a way to connect the art with “marginalized yet universal voices of the underlying, often hidden nature of reality. “

The public art piece was funded by the City of Pickering’s Public Art Reserve and a $20,000 contribution from Shell Canada.