CFP - Capital Wayfaring: Peripatetic Explorations of Monuments and Moose Droppings in Ottawa

[Keren Zaiontz]

2015 Canadian Association for Theatre Research -- University of  
Ottawa, May 30th - June 2 2015

Praxis Seminar Co-organizers

Melanie Bennett (York University)

Keren Zaiontz (Simon Fraser University)

CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS

Capital Wayfaring: Peripatetic Explorations of Monuments and Moose  
Droppings in Ottawa

The art of walking the city includes a long history of mobile critics  
wandering through urban capitals on foot. Walter Benjamin’s pre-war  
detours through Paris, the Situationists’ anti-capitalist dérives,  
and Michel de Certeau’s digressions through New York City have  
established the act of walking as both a mode of contemplation and  
performance. In contemporary culture, walking a city can be less of a  
drift and more of a frantic pursuit. Even the leisure time of tourists  
is frequently characterized by a “to do” list that revolves around  
visiting iconic sites for photo-ops and shopping for souvenirs. Most  
tourists leave little for the contemplative sashaying that inspired  
Baudelaire’s poetry and Benjamin’s musings. In response to this  
capitalistic model of urban tourism and a Western lifestyle that tends  
to perceive walking as utilitarian (for exercise, shopping, getting to  
and from), there has been an influx of artists who have revived the  
romanticized preoccupation with flânerie and the dérive (Wrights &  
Sites, Vancouver Walking Projects, etc.) Some performance scholars,  
however, have questioned how the “well-trampled fields” (Heddon and  
Turner 21) of the flâneur and dérivist have privileged the narratives  
of specific bodies, classes, and spaces over others. Our praxis  
seminar will contribute to a growing movement of “alternative  
mobilizations” (Wilkie 207) that move beyond ablelist, lone  
itinerant, and tourist paradigms. We will organize two art walks in  
Ottawa that explore how itinerancy can be used to engage with  
monumental proximity and patriotism (such as taking your picture with  
the Famous Five) as well as banal commodity consumption (such as  
buying a Mountie fridge magnet). Our seminar will question the signs  
embedded in Canada’s capital by taking as much interest in the sales  
clerk selling chocolate moose droppings in ByWard Market as the  
official histories of monuments and Parliament buildings of Ottawa.

Structure

Our praxis seminar will include two guided walks (approximately one  
hour each) through different neighbourhoods in downtown Ottawa and one  
hour-long post-walk session on campus where participants will reflect  
on the ambles as well as engage with specialist readings on the  
mobilities turn in performance studies. Citing Ottawa’s tourist  
campaign language, the first walk, “Discover Canada’s Past”, will  
be oriented around Ottawa’s official monuments, cultural  
institutions, and statues. The second walk, “Taste of Canada”, will  
involve ambling through ByWard Market where we will go in search of  
BeaverTails pastries, maple syrup, Quebec cheese, timbits, flag  
cookies, and interact with service workers in tourist hot spots.

We will ask our participants to select one site, monument, or souvenir  
that can be linked to either the first or second walk. Participants  
will be asked to consider how their selected site or object is linked  
to their own research interests. During the walks, contributors will  
be invited to deliver five minute interventions at their chosen site  
or beside their souvenir. The interventions can take the form of short  
reflections, manifestos, or performances.

Monuments and sites of interest to choose from (“Discover Canada’s  
Past” walk):

● Laurier House

● Notre Dame Basilica

● National Gallery of Canada (including Giant Spider)

● Major’s Hill Park (including Kneeling First Nations Anishinabe  
Scout)

● Canadian Parliament Buildings (including Famous Five sculpture,  
Peace Tower, Centennial Flame, Victory Tower Bell, John A. MacDonald  
statue, Queen Victoria statue, Queen Elizabeth statue, the closed down  
cat sanctuary, and more)

● Nepean Point (including Samuel de Champlain statue and former  
location of First Nations Anishinabe Scout)

● National Arts Centre (including Oscar Peterson statue)

● Museum of Classical Antiquities

● Confederation Square (including National War Memorial and Valiants  
Memorial)

● Currency Museum of the Bank of Canada

● National Archives

● Supreme Court of Canada

● Canadian Tribute to Human Rights

● Canadian War Museum (including tomb of the Unknown Soldier)

● Canadian Museum of Nature

Description of work

**Participants will take part in one or both walks through downtown  
Ottawa as well as participate in a final forum and discussion, which  
will include assigned critical reading(s). Space is limited. We will  
only accept participants who can attend a minimum of one of the two  
walks, complete the readings, and participate in the post-walk session.

Proposal Requirements

Potential participants are asked to submit a proposal of no more than  
300 words detailing (1) which walk or walks they wish to participate  
in; (2) their monument, statue, institution, or souvenir of interest;  
(3) how they think this potential site or object of interest would  
‘complicate’ and extend their research. Proposals should detail  
what you hope to gain for your own research from the encounter with  
Ottawa, but crucially what you feel your research will offer to a  
mobile engagement with Ottawa in the context a praxis seminar.

Works Cited

Heddon, Dee and Cathy Turner. “Walking Women: Interviews with Artists  
on the Move.” Performance Research 15.4 (2010): 14-22.

Wilkie, Fiona. “Site-specific Performance and the Mobility Turn.”  
Contemporary Theatre Review 22.2 (2012): 203-212.

Proposal Due Date

15 January 2015

Email your proposals to

melanielynnbennett at hotmail.com, kzaiontz at sfu.ca
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