We are Committed Period: Visceral Tide Art installation. Visceral Tide, an art piece created by local artist and menstrual equity activist Olivia Carvalho, will be hanging for 28 symbolic days from the stairwell leading to level 2 from May 16th to June 13th. 

Olivia Carvalho (she/her)

Visceral Tide

Acrylic yarn, sand, plastic bags, fishing line

2019

An exploration of line that worked its way off the wall and into three-dimensional space, this installation is composed of 28 drawings. Each loom-knit sack functions as individual records of what I experience throughout my menstrual cycle. Each drawing is a day, each day a different weight—of either physical or mental straining brought on by changes in cycle phases. Together the sacks make up one complete cycle. These drawings allowed me to bring a highly physical experience outside of my body and articulate it through a series of objects.

Working to convey a sense of straining on and between the chosen materials, this work asks viewers to confront their own relationship to body and the anxiety surrounding unavoidable pain. Like the changing tides, it is inevitable, all-consuming and a powerful force that comes crashing down on both body and mind.

Join us in-person to connect with other readers, learn new perspectives and get to know your community library! Each month we'll read a different title from a variety of genres and authors. New members are always welcome!

In June, we will be discussing The Dutch House by Ann Patchett.

Registration required.

Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.

The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are. Filled with suspense, you may read it quickly to find out what happens, but what happens to Danny and Maeve will stay with you for a very long time.

Join us for a great discussion. Each month we will read a new title from various genres and authors. New members are always welcome.

 Registration required.

In July, we will be discussing Two Trees Make A Forest by Jessica J Lee. This title is available as an ebook or an audiobook from DownloadLibrary.

A chance discovery of letters written by her immigrant grandfather leads Jessica J. Lee to her ancestral homeland, Taiwan. She seeks his story while growing closer to the land he knew.
Lee hikes mountains home to Formosan flamecrests, birds found nowhere else on earth and swims in a lake of drowned cedars. She bikes flatlands where spoonbills alight by fish farms and learns about a tree whose fruit can float in the ocean for years, awaiting landfall. Throughout, Lee unearths surprising parallels between the natural and human stories that have shaped her family and their beloved island. Joyously attentive to the natural world, Lee also turns a critical gaze upon colonialist explorers who mapped the land and named plants, relying on and often effacing the labour and knowledge of local communities.

By participating in this program, you acknowledge that you accept and agree to Kitchener Public Library’s Safe Use Code.