Future Fragments

Future Fragments is a participatory installation that empowers Millbrook First Nation youth and community members to express their hopes and dreams for the future through participatory art-making. Over the course of the summer, Michael, Jen, and OSO team members will facilitate a series of workshops in Millbrook, Cole Harbour, Beaver Dam, and Sheet Harbour that invite folks to imagine, draw, cut, print, sculpt, and sew. The process will culminate in the creation of a patchwork quilt and plywood sculptures that express a collective vision for the future of the community. The idea has stemmed from OSO planning + design’s conversations with community members about the Millbrook Comprehensive Community Plan. We were inspired to seek new means of prompting, recording, and re-telling these conversations that capture the individual and collective dimensions of value, story, and experience upon which the Millbrook Community Plan is being built.

The process begins with drawing sessions where participants are prompted and guided by the artists to create drawings that represent their ideas and dreams for the future. The drawings are then transferred to plywood printing blocks using hand-carving and laser engraving. Once cut, the wood blocks are printed onto textiles. Following the printing process, the plywood blocks are used to design and build sculptures. Meanwhile, folks collaborate to arrange the printed fabric pieces into a giant patchwork quilt. Final workshops about sewing will guide the assembly of the patchwork. The night of Nocturne will bring the work to life through a gathering where the community will take full ownership of their work and celebrate the vibrancy of their collective future.

The project seeks to foster community engagement and participation throughout the entire creative process. It aims to create space for community members to come together to discuss the future they want to build together. All these moments will be traced into the lines and sewn into the seams of these objects of art, which will live on as a guiding document of the Community Plan. Through the installation, the project will showcase the perspectives and ideas of the Millbrook community, and contribute to a larger conversation about the possibilities for a shared future. By attending Nocturne and witnessing their ideas come to life through art-making, we hope that the people involved will see that their dreams for the future can be made real through creativity and collective actions.