Mizzen Heritage Society Visit, Heart's Content

Yesterday I traveled to Heart's Content to spend some time with members of the town's Mizzen Heritage Society. This group of individuals have a vested interested in the heritage structures within their community. With their help, the Heart's Content Town Council has submitted an application to the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador to have an officially designated heritage district in their community. In the proposed district there are 18 buildings of historic interest, many of which are connected to the cable companies that once operated in Heart's Content. The Mizzen men discussed the proposal with me, and offered some historic background on some of the heritage buildings the are within the district. Over the next few months I will be making many trips to Heart's Content to visit not only the Mizzen Heritage group, but members of the town council and greater community too. Ultimately, I hope to figure out how I can help the Heart's Content heritage district be as successful as possible, as both a provincial point of interest as well as a tool for local community-building initiatives.

Here are John, Bob, and Claude (L to R) of the Mizzen Heritage Society standing in the town hall conference room. They told me all about what they do as a society, what some of their successful campaigns have been, and what some of their future plans are. They also gave me a sneak peek inside of some of the heritage buildings within the district (see below). I look forward to collaborating with them in the coming months.

The above photograph shows the interior of the Methodist School House (c.1919) in Heart's Content. It is now owned by the Mizzen Heritage Society who have converted it into a community museum. The amazing tiled floor is likely from when it was used by the Masonic Order from the 1940s-1960s.

 This model, on display in the community museum, depicts the historic Anglican Church that once stood in Heart's Content. Sadly this building was lost in a fire in the mid-1980s-- a tragic event that has not been forgotten. While the town still misses this beautiful structure, community members have found ways to celebrate it and keep it in the collective memory.

On my next Heart's Content excursion I hope to speak with some of the owners of heritage buildings within the district -- stay tuned!

-Lisa

Weaving in the Woods

This past Saturday the ICH office, in partnership Memorial University's Folklore 6740 graduate class, put off a pillow top making workshop.

Pillow tops are woven with wool on wooden frames and were traditionally crafted by Newfoundland lumber camp workers to be gifted to their wives, girlfriends or mothers. They are sewn onto pillows, used as throws, pot holders or place mats.

Today this handcrafted tradition is being carried on by Elizabeth Murphy of the Burin Peninsula. She grew up in a house where crafting pillow tops was a winter pastime and learned to make them from her parents in the early 1960s. This is a skill which she has gone on to teach for several years and we were fortunate to have her lead this workshop. The event was a great success and everyone who participated walked away with a lovely pillow top and the skills they require to continue this traditional Newfoundland craft.

 Susan Lee, June Russell, Arlene Penney, Nicole Penney, Elizabeth Murphy and Raymond Russell (left to right) examine the differences between the Russell's pillow top and the three Murphy brought. All these pillow tops are between 30-50 years old.  

The beginning step of making a pillow top is layering the wool on the wooden frame.

Raelene Thomas

  

Jillian Gould teaches Folklore 6740 and
 partnered with the ICH office on this project

Elizabeth Murphy instructing Jenny Taroff,
a student in the Folklore 6740 class

Caitlin Bethune of the Folklore 6740 class (blue hat/shirt) works alongside a workshop participant

After layering the wool the next step is to tie off the back. We were shown by Murphy how to use fish net twine and a twine needle for this step. 

Raymond Russell, who made a pillow top while working in the lumber camps in 1958, helps his daughter, Arlene Penney, with her pillow top. 

Murphy (back) looks over some of the workshop participants as they weave their pillow tops. 

The Next step, after layering all the wool and tying off the back, is to cut the wool. This  cutting will  form the  pom poms on the pillow top. Be careful not to cut all the way through! As you can see in the picture above, a few strands of wool are not cut in order to form the backing of the pillow top.

Dale Jarvis and Nicole Penney, of the ICH office, cut their pillow tops to form the pom poms

Shamus MacDonald, of the Folklore 6740 class, tries his hand at cutting wool.

The very last step is to steam the wool in order to fluff up the pom poms

A close up on the pom poms

Two of our participants showing off their finished pillow tops. 

If you have any pillow top memories please contact Nicole Penney with the ICH office. We are actively collecting information about this interesting Newfoundland craft. Nicole can be reached at (709) 739-1892 ex. 6 or via email at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca.

Photographs courtesy of: Christina Robarts

Making Memory Maps Workshop with Marlene Creates

Memory maps are subjective drawings based on personal experience in, and perception of, a specific lived place. This is a device Marlene Creates has used in her teaching and in her own artwork for over 30 years. Drawing memory maps can help you remember, record, interpret, investigate, and communicate both present and lost attributes of local places and everyday life –– ones not normally registered in the larger historical record. This is an excellent device to stimulate conversation for anyone doing oral history research.

Marlene will show examples from her own works based on memory maps that were drawn for her by elders in various areas of the province: Inuit and Settlers in Nain and Hopedale, Mushuau Innu in Davis Inlet, and her own elderly relatives in Lewisporte and Joe Batt’s Arm, as well as from some of the multi-disciplinary place-based projects she has done with other adults and over 2,000 schoolchildren in the province.

About the instructor
Marlene Creates is an environmental artist and poet who lives in Portugal Cove. She was born in Montreal and in 1985 she moved to Newfoundland, the home of her maternal ancestors who were from Lewisporte and Fogo Island. Her artwork, spanning more than three decades, has been an exploration of the relationship between human experience, memory, language and the land, and the impact they have on each other. Since the 1970s her work has been exhibited in over 300 solo and group exhibitions across Canada and internationally. She has been a guest lecturer at over 150 institutions, including the National Gallery of Canada, the Glasgow School of Art, the University of Oxford, the University of Kent at Canterbury, the University of Hartford, and many Canadian universities. This year, she was a plenary speaker at Space + Memory = Place, the biennial conference of the Association for Literature, Environment, and Culture in Canada.

Workshop Details

Saturday, 10 November 2012, 1pm-4pm
MMAP Gallery (Old Art Gallery Space)
Arts and Culture Centre, St. John’s, Newfoundland
Workshop fee: $20
Pre-registration required.
Contact Nicole at nicole@heritagefoundation.ca or call 709-739-1892 ext 6

Materials list for the participants to bring:

• plain HB pencil
• colour pencils
• white art eraser
• glue stick

image credit: Memory map of Freake land in Joe Batt's Arm drawn by Bert Freake for Marlene Creates, 1989; excerpt from where my great-grandmother was born, in the series Places of Presence: Newfoundland kin and ancestral land, 1989-1991.

Fortis Memorial

Sadly, a construction worker recently fell 80 feet to his death while working on the new Fortis office building on Springdale Street in St. John's, just behind the ICH office. Below are some photos of the spontaneous memorials that popped up within a day or two.

Spontaneous memorials are a first reaction to the unanticipated, unexpected and violent loss of life. Most spontaneous memorials start within hours of death notification; someone leaves a candle or bouquet of flowers, which is often followed quickly by contributions from others. They can be the limited, personal expression of the family and friends who place flowers, candles, stuffed animals, and notes on a tree by the roadside where a fatal accident occurred, or occur on a global level. 

Spontaneous memorials tend to be impermanent, but can become the place of a permanent memorial. For more on spontaneous memorials check out Holly Everett's book, Roadside Crosses in Contemporary Memorial Culture.

Two ICH Workshops - Pillow Tops and Memory Maps!

This November, the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador is offering two workshops related to intangible cultural heritage:

November 3, 2012 - Weaving in the Woods with Elizabeth Murphy
November 10, 2012 - Making Memory Map with Marlene Creates
Weaving in the Woods: Recreating a Lumberman’s Pastime with Elizabeth Murphy
Saturday, Nov. 3rd, 2012
1pm - 4pm
Cochrane Street United Church
Registration fee: $20
What are pillow tops? Woven with wool on wooden frames, these Newfoundland textiles were traditionally crafted by lumber camp workers to be gifted to their sweethearts or sewn onto pillows, used as throws or even placemats. Today this handcrafted tradition is being carried on by Elizabeth Murphy of the Burin Peninsula. She grew up in a house where crafting pillow tops was a winter pastime and learned to make them from her parents in the early 1960s. This is a skill which she has gone on to teach for several years.

Making Memory Maps with Marlene Creates
Saturday, Nov. 10th, 2012
1pm - 4pm
MMaP Gallery, Arts and Culture Centre
Registration fee: $20

Memory maps are subjective drawings based on personal experience in, and perception of, a specific lived place. This is a device Marlene Creates has used in her teaching and in her own artwork for over 30 years. Drawing memory maps can help you remember, record, interpret, investigate, and communicate both present and lost attributes of local places and everyday life –– ones not normally registered in the larger historical record. This is an excellent device to stimulate conversation for anyone doing oral history research.

For more information on both workshops please visit www.mun.ca/ich
Pre-registration is required for both workshops. To register, please contact:

Nicole Penney
Heritage Foundation Newfoundland and Labrador
nicole@heritagefoundation.ca709-739-1892 ext 6

From weaving in the woods to working high steel

In this month's edition of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Update for Newfoundland and Labrador, folklorist Dale Jarvis gives an update on the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador's Avalon Folklore Project; news about two ICH workshops, one on making pillow tops and one on memory maps; Nicole Penney interviews Joe Lewis of Conception Harbour about working high steel; and an introduction to HFNL's newest staff person, Lisa Wilson.

Download the pdf

Every Building Implies a City, a talk by architect Bruce Kuwabara

Every building, whether consciously or unconsciously, embodies a vision of a city in an urbanizing world. The vitality of the city is dependent on what individual buildings and their programs contribute to the animation of streets and public spaces. The talk will focus on recently completed projects of KPMB Architects across Canada that expand on new strategies that will contribute to making better cities and communities.

Guest Speaker: Bruce Kuwabara
Topic: "Every Building Implies a City"
Location: Resource Centre for the Arts, LSPU Hall
Free Parking behind "Bluedrop Building" on Prescott Street

Date: Monday, October 22, 2012
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Free Admission, All Are Welcome, Reception to follow. 

Hosted by the Newfoundland and Labrador Association of Architects 

Mapping the legacy of resettlement in Arnold's Cove, Newfoundland

"Overall, some 307 communities were abandoned between 1946 and 1975, and over 28,000 people relocated. Captured in film, poetry, visual art and music, the response to resettlement was an important political thread in the province's cultural renaissance in the 1970s. The programme had a profound impact on the lives of those affected, and continues to resonate in the culture and collective psyche of the province today."

- excerpt from “No Great Future” Government Sponsored Resettlement

in Newfoundland and Labrador since Confederation

I had an interesting day today, with a trip out to Arnold's Cove to meet with representatives of the town's heritage committee. I was there to help provide some advice on project focus and preliminary project planning around a few ideas they have for future heritage projects.

I'm always encouraging communities to focus on projects that are somehow unique to their communities. One of the interesting facts that came out of today's meeting is that the town has a large number of buildings that were moved into the community from now abandoned Placentia Bay towns during the resettlement period.  A lot of communities in the province have resettled buildings, but the heritage committee has tentatively identified 71 houses still standing in Arnold's Cove, with a few additional buildings yet to be added to the list.  They are clustered, perhaps unsurprisingly, with people from the same home towns, with people setting up their houses in Arnold's Cove close to their original neighbours. You can see a rough version of a preliminary map above.

We are talking about setting up a public workshop in Arnold's Cove around the topic of mapping cultural resources, using this as a case study, and possibly incorporating features from of one of our old Google map workshops. Stay tuned! If you'd like to be involved in some way, you can drop me a line at ich@heritagefoundation.ca

Resettlement Links:

• “No Great Future” Government Sponsored Resettlement in Newfoundland and Labrador since Confederation
• The Resettlement Program - “Resettlement Now While Resettlement Pays”

Folklore Fieldwork Guide: Getting interesting answers

I had a meeting today with a group looking to collect some oral histories from its pioneer members. I told them about a video from Traditional Arts Indiana about getting interesting answers from your informants.

You can watch the video here:



In the same series is this video on structuring interview questions.

I like the topics-based approach taken in this second guide, where the suggestion is that an interview ask questions based on five topics:  beginnings;  community; aesthetics; process; and, creativity/traditionality. It is a good idea for people doing any kind of folklore interview related to traditional and contemporary craft or practice.