Robin Lamarr has been the only person of colour in a movement class. With this personal experience and her own desire to make mindful movement accessible, the movement educator and community activist had been thinking about how she could address the lack of representation in the movement community.
When she obtained a physical space for the studio she founded, Goodbodyfeel, she saw it as a good time to introduce a designated space for people of colour. The result was the first Movement Melanin Expression workshop on Feb. 24. The two-hour, three-part workshop was designed for individuals identifying as Black, Indigenous or people of colour.
“The intention is to create a space where folks who usually feel like they don't belong can feel belonging. And then, because it's an exclusive space, we can be open, raw, vulnerable and honest about what… we're feeling and why… [W]e can be super open about it without having to… defend ourselves against someone who might have white fragility for example,” said Lamarr.
The workshop was the result of a partnership with Hamilton-based visual alchemist and movement teacher-in-trainer, Stylo Starr. Starr joined the Goodbodyfeel Teacher Training last year when she met Lamarr and is almost finished her 200 hours of training.
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Lamarr and Starr have collaborated on a similarly structured workshop before. Last summer, they ran a satellite workshop at the Art Gallery of Hamilton wherein Lamarr led a movement sequence followed by Starr leading a walking meditation involving collage material.
Similarly, Movement Melanin Expression began with Lamarr leading participants through her famed R&B Pilates movement sequence. The sequence starts slow and warms up the individual parts of the body before ending with an intense squat sequence wherein participants scream in order to release all their emotions.
After moving, a circle discussion took place. The discussion was intended to address how people of colour can take up space and reverse the lack of representation in the movement and wellness industry. Most importantly, the conversation was meant to be open and unrestrained. Starr hopes that the conversation acted as a catalyst for participants to discuss how they’re feeling with the people in their lives.
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The workshop ended with Starr’s collage workshop. As she did with the series at the art gallery, Starr led participants through a walking meditation, allowing them to find pieces that spoke to them and create something there. The creative portion of the workshop allowed participants to express and liberate themselves.
“I've seen firsthand how movement has helped my creation. It's just a way of accessing a part of your mindfulness that maybe sitting still might not do for many people… I think it's really important to mesh these worlds because it's often implied that they're so different but they're actually very similar. In creating sequences for classes, it's a collage of different movements and they might not always look the same,” Starr explaining.
Approaching creativity through the medium of collage is one of the many ways in which this workshop made itself accessible. Unlike other forms of art, collage is not very intimidating for the non-artist and allowed individuals to express themselves with lesser concern about artistic skill.
Like several other Goodbodyfeel classes, this workshop had a sliding scale in place to reduce the financial barrier for participants. The studio also has clean clothes for participants to use and provides mats and props. By removing these obstacles for participants, the studio is hoping that no one is priced out of accessing mindful movement.
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“I've been practicing some form of mindful movement since 2000 and… it's been a really big part of my healing journey. And so since moving to Hamilton and starting this community, my aim is to have as many people as possible benefit and have access to the transformative effects of mindful movement.
Why does the movement community need to even address race and representation? Well, because it's incredibly beneficial to mental health and well-being and everybody deserves access to it,” Lamarr said.
At the end of the day, the most important part of Movement Melanin Expression was the formation of community through movement. Starr and Lamarr intend to continue the class so that people of colour can continue to take up space in the movement industry and discuss more ways to break down the barriers.
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A pomegranate, some books, plants and a kiln. On their own, these images may not speak to the inspiring legacy of women’s stories. However, in the hands of the youth leaders from the YWCA Hamilton and Workers’ Arts and Heritage Centre Youth Councils, items such as these have been transformed into powerful symbols within beautiful collages.
This artwork currently hangs at WAHC’s community gallery in an exhibition entitled Portraits of Gratitude: Women+’s History; Women+’s Future. All the pieces came out of a two-hour collage workshop led by Hamilton artist Stylo Starr for the youth council members, all of whom are between 16 and 29 years old.
[spacer height="20px"]The individuals behind these pieces are not necessarily artists by trade, but were passionate about telling stories of woman-identified individuals’ power and leadership. The idea came out of a conversation held during the YWCA Youth Council’s summer book club wherein they were reading Elizabeth Renzetti’s Shrewed.
“[T]here's a chapter in the book that discusses the relationship between Mary Shelley and Mary Wollstonecraft and we were remarking on how interesting it was that both of these women eventually got such recognition for their work and about how women's stories and history are often absorbed by their husbands,” explained Daniela Giulietti, the coordinator for the YWCA Youth Advisory Council.
Giulietti approached WAHC with the idea of creating an exhibition to combat this erasure and bring women’s stories to the forefront. This brought the WAHC Youth Council on board and the group decided to hold the exhibit at the WAHC, a massive two storey historic house on 51 Stuart Street.
October is Women’s History Month in Canada and this year’s theme has been designated with the #MakeAnImpact hashtag. The government has set up Women of Impact in Canada, an online gallery celebrating the achievements of remarkable women.
In the same vein, the collage workshop that produced the exhibition’s pieces began with the participants reflecting on women who inspire them. Some of these women were activists, authors and pop culture figures. Notable figures such as Toni Morrison and Beyoncé were highlighted in the pieces.
[spacer height="20px"]However, many were women that would not be found in national collections: mothers, sisters, grandmothers, aunts and friends. Hitoko Okada, a textile artist and Interim Programs Coordinator for the WAHC Youth Council, shared how her grandmother inspires her at this time in her life.
“[W]hen I'm weaving and sewing, I really feel like she is coming through and…even teaching my small movements of the hand…I just feel like that she's really with me and guiding me and encouraging me to connect to my ancestry through craft,” explained Okada.
“I feel like that's a knowledge that was transmitted to me through this…indirect way but it's a hand movement and a practice that…most of the women in our family have shared.”
The influence of family comes through in many of the collages. Several invoke domestic imagery and contain allusions to women relatives. One piece has clippings of a farm that reminded the artist of her grandmother’s farm where she grew up. Another seems to spell out Mom.
It is special that this exhibition provides a place for the stories of women that figure most prominently in our personal histories. In this time where the experiences of women are continuously being cast aside, it is empowering to have a space wherein the narratives of women are valued.
“[T]he timing ended up being really important because this was…when a lot of anti-survivor narratives were present in the media around the Brent Kavanaugh confirmation…[I]t felt for me like the space created was almost a really nice relief. You can see that in some of the pieces where there's survivors and I believe survivors, we believe survivors,” said Jordyn Perreault-Laird, a member of the YWCA Youth Council and Outreach and Partnerships Coordinator at WAHC.
The exhibition will culminate with a closing reception on Oct. 26, during which there will be a screening of the film, Bread and Roses. The film is inspired by the Justice for Janitors movement and tells the story of the janitorial strike in Los Angeles by undocumented immigrants and led by women.
The film sheds light on history that is often obscured by louder male narratives. It also demonstrates the power of young women and marginalized people to change their world. Creating space for the lesser known stories of women was one of the main goals of the exhibition as a whole. Reflecting on the success of the exhibit, Okada summed up the gravity of this impact.
“It really makes me think about the power of an image and the image of a woman in leadership. It speaks volumes. It's really so powerful…[it] gives me chills.”
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As darkness claims the end of the first Wednesday of the month, Main Street East settles into a quiet rhythm against the background humming of nearby traffic. Red florescent lights spelling out ‘Sous Bas’ invite passersby down a flight of stairs and into the warm atmosphere of the candlelit space known for long nights of dancing.
At the far end of the room DJ Camron rehearses his set. The chanted vocals of Afrobeat mixed with funk and jazz tracks will catalyze carefree dance moves during Afrowave, but tonight’s unofficial audience is rather preoccupied with issues of National Geographic from the early 2000s, scissors and glue sticks.
Magazines and journals from the worlds of fashion, business, travel, lifestyle, art, music and photography are scattered along the bar’s island. A few comics, colouring pages and prints from the past can also be found among the dozens of publications that fill plastic storage bins on the ground.
Whether you came with a plan to spend the night collaging or stumbled in for a drink and decided to stay for the paper-based craft, Sous Bas owner Erika McMeekin and visual artist Stylo Starr have created the perfect environment to cut, paste and chill.
“It’s been a really great experience breaking down the stigma that collage is just a cut and paste kindergarten activity, it’s so much more…the major drive behind it was that we saw that there was a pull towards collage and the appeal was there but the response was always ‘oh I can’t do that, I’m not an artist’,” explained Starr.
When McMeekin was approached with the idea of hosting the Collage Coven’s Assemblage events at Sous Bas, she thought it was a perfect fit. The nightclub is not only a popular scene for a night out in Hamilton, it’s also deeply intertwined with the community by providing a welcoming space for meetings, R&B and disco pilates sessions and now an art space.
“People like to meet and drink but don’t really do anything… So I want to see what could happen [in spaces]… where you go hangout with your friends but also make something,” said Starr.
“I think that would be really beneficial because you’re being productive in a group and that group think and group creativity is actually really cool, the synergy that’s there is insane.”
Collage makers tap into their creativity in clusters around tables, in booths, on couches and even sitting cross-legged on the floor buried in paper. Some of the attendees at last Wednesday’s event include artists, friends collaging together for the first time and two DeGroote alumni, one of whom flew in from Ireland to celebrate his birthday and ended up catching up with his friend over beers and collages.
“I love being able to provide that space for people where they could just unleash their creativity. It’s a power that not a lot of people realize they have within themselves…when they say things like ‘I’m not creative’ it’s like shoving that down in a box and I’m here to rip that shit open and let them revel in it and see what comes out of it,” explained Starr.
Aside from being a form of creativity and self-expression, collaging is also therapeutic. Attendees can learn more about themselves and feel good through partaking in the activity. Many of Starr’s own pieces were created during emotional moments, helping her sort through her thoughts, like a visual diary.
Anyone can get started with collaging. Start by collecting images that catch your eye in magazines or digital media, rip, cut, clip words, graphics, photographs or even patterns. Starr encourages collecting anything that strikes you and putting it aside for when you desire to make art or try something new.
The Collage Coven’s monthly collage parties take place on the first Wednesday of the month from 7 to 10 pm at Sous Bas. The event is open to all, pay what you can and an abundance of materials are provided.
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