Shalaka Jadhav is a Kitchener-based curator, writer and founder of the Container Garden project; an experiment in artistic research and collaboration. May 21, 2026, marked the five-year anniversary of the garden and saw the launch of this project. Jadhav encouraged their community to engage with the garden however they saw fit, whether it was to grow food together or develop artistic projects. The call was open to everyone, including people outside of the Kitchener-Waterloo area.
“We’ve had things like experimental found sound workshops. We made contact mics. We’ve had two zines launch where artists were interested in responding to what they were noticing in the garden and mapping the garden. We had an outdoor projection and score presented,” Jadhav said.
On Oct. 17, 2026, Jadhav hosted the conclusion of the Container Garden project for the summer season. The art installation was a combination of two art projects born out of the Container Garden.
Strung between two backyards, Toward One Another is a series of driftwood sculptures by Swiss Canadian sculptor Ernest Daetwyler. Ben O’Brien, also known as Feral Agathist, performed an improvised live sonic response by mic’ing The Witch Warrior Boat, one of Daetwyler’s sculptures.
“I think one of my main approaches with this work is going against the grain of traditional music and thinking about just non-traditional sounds as an enjoyable experience for people,” O’Brien said.
Jadhav spoke about The Carrier Bag Theory of Fiction by Ursula K. Le Guin. In which, Le Guin posed that the hero is not the man who goes and hunts the animal. The hero is the container, the bag that brings the animal back to the community.
“That’s where the name of this project sort of came about, which is around centering the carrier bag, the container, and just seeing what’s possible,” Jadhav said.
As the winter season approaches, Jadhav is planning the next art installation. The upcoming season will feature a garden billboard where artists can submit images, writings and more for wheat pasting. Each piece of art will layer on previous works, creating a collaborative and evolving surface.
“Even just the idea of planting a seed and hoping what comes up, you know, it can be a lot of trust, a lot of patience,” Jadhav said.
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