The sixth annual Femme Folks Fest was held over nine days starting on Mar. 8 presenting over 25 new art imaginings around Kitchener and Waterloo. The art installations were hosted in Studio Theatre, Centre in the Square, Uptown Waterloo Visitor Centre, Upper Rotunda, Kitchener City Hall, the SDG Idea Factory and the InterArts Matrix Performance Space.
Femme Folks Fest was founded upon principles from Michelle MacArthur’s study Achieving Equity in Canadian Theatre: A Report with Best Practices Recommendations. This study is the most recent on Gender Equity in Canadian Theatre. Femme Folks Fest was commissioned by local arts catalyst Pat the Dog with support from the Canada Council for the Arts.
On Mar. 8, Femme Folks Fest hosted a Clothing Swap and Style event at the Visitors Information Centre at Waterloo Park. Over 30 participants explored the colourful, stylized clothes and accessories. There was a booth where visitors could repair and repurpose their unneeded or damaged clothing.
“The purpose of the event is to help people clean out their closets, get rid of things that may not fit anymore, or they’re just ready to pass along to see someone else find the same joy that they did,” Rachel Kaufman Behling, the owner of Auburn Vintage Clothiers, said.
Event organizers helped patrons with general inquiries and offered style help with the clothes available. The event encouraged community bonding and an appreciation for the fine arts.
After an enthusiastic response on opening night, Quartet for Garlic, Cello, Mouth & Telephone created and performed by Ben Gorodetsky and Miriam Stewart-Krocker returned to the Studio Theatre. The audience was engrossed in a symphony of love, trauma and lots of garlic. At the end of the performance, the audience received some garlic to cook and share.
On Mar. 10, a research-based installation named (M)otherload took place at the Visitors Centre in Waterloo from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. It was led by Catherine Mellinger and Kristyna Balaban. Two impossible games were available to try“a ball-based throwing exercise and a matching game. The installation is a part of a larger artistic project by Balaban and Mellinger which culminates in a video-based geometric dome installation to be presented in Fall 2025.
“We’re hoping for people that are not parents to come. These are the people that are gaining empathy,”
“Both of us are really interested in enticing empathy in our work…We want people to look at this and say, ‘Did I even think about what my mom, or sister, or father, or trans sibling might be thinking about when they are going through this?’,” Mellinger said.
Femme Folks Fest was a celebration of a fresh group of talented and nationally recognized local artists. Each artist and their presentations came from their own unique perspectives and always entertained in the way they were displayed. It was a welcome break from the challenging times surrounding the world and took everyone on a journey beyond binary understandings of gender and intersectionality.
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