Art installation on offer in downtown Sudbury

A biennial alternative art festival is happening this week on Larch Street in Sudbury. About 30 artists took their inspiration from used and broken vehicles.

Larch Street is closed to vehicles between Durham and Elgin streets in Sudbury as 30 artists are working on their installations, taking inspiration from used and broken vehicles.

The Foire D’Art Hazard Alternatif De Sudbury’s eighth edition of their free artist installation is happening on Larch Street this week.

“We decided to go with hazard,” said Danielle Tremblay, the director of the GNO.

“And as art in French, as art is more like something that happens to happen, you know, it’s not, it’s a question of chance. Also, while hazard in English has a connotation about risk, they’re playing with that concept of risk, chance.”

Many of the artists are working on damaged cars or taking inspiration from the hazard, with some even wanting viewer involvement to keep their piece unpredictable.

“People can interpret things as they feel when they see the art,” said Melanie Paulin, a visual artist from New Brunswick.

Come and participate

“And really, what I would like for them to do is come and participate, which I think is also, you know, a great opportunity to be part of the practice, too.”

“This is our installation based around MMIW to honour those missing and murdered Indigenous women,” said Sapper Wemigwans from the Debajehmujig Storytellers.

“What we’re doing is we’re asking the public to come and contribute by creating a face on our templates.”

Much of the art being created is speaking to larger topics, like missing and murdered Indigenous women, immigration and fast fashion.

Heritier Bilaka is an artist living in Ottaway who is originally from the Republic of Congo.

“It’s more about my experience as an immigrant,” said Bilaka.

“When you arrive here, you expect things, but you don’t really know what’s going on. You know, you learn from zero. This is relevant to me as a ‘hazard’ (because) we just believe, but we don’t know exactly how long the process is going to take.”

The art exhibition is open until Saturday (May 16). Organizers said the beauty of watching artists make their art means attendees see something new every walkthrough.