February 20 - The Song Blanket
Rebecca Hass, vocalist and storyteller
Lucy Shelton, Kamala Sankaram, Kate Morton, vocalists
Erika Switzer, pianist
Blankets are familiar to us all, no matter our cultural background. We understand how their threads weave together warmth and protection from the cold. But blankets hold so much more. Traditionally, they have been created by matriarchs, whose artistry in quilting, weaving, crocheting, and knitting has preserved ancestral knowledge through generations. These Matriarchs stitched their dreams, care, and vision into every thread, crafting blankets for future generations to carry. Rebecca Hass (Nitaawe Giizhigok – Singing Sky Woman), a Georgian Bay Métis artist and Citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario, carries the legacy of her Métis grandmother’s quilts. In The Song Blanket, Rebecca gives voice to an old woman searching for what has been forgotten — the traditional teachings and cultural wisdom whispered through the quilts.
Rebecca calls forward the matriarchs who travel with us, wrapping all in the transformative vibration of music. Joined by local guest artists, audiences will journey through stories and songs — both new and old, as the old woman seeks to remember and reclaim. Through The Song Blanket, the journey with the old woman seeks to stitch us together once more, awakening the ancestral wisdom, love, and care of the matriarchs — those known and unknown — who continue to walk beside us today.
