mâmawinitowin (a gathering of people)

Artwork by Matthew Cardinal & AJA Louden
With this artwork, (mâmawinitowin), we wanted to create a welcoming place for people coming from all backgrounds, from all over the city, who cross paths in this space. The nêhiyawêwin (Cree) word mâmawinitowin, shared with us by Dorothy Thunder, means 'a gathering of people'.
We chose to celebrate this idea by making the syllabics look like they were moving and dancing like the graffiti letters we both love to paint. Plants, some chosen for their medicinal value and others chosen purely for symbolic reasons, fill the syllabics, growing out past the edges. Sage and rat root are planted near aloe vera and goji berries, all growing close to a viridis vine, a sunflower, a coffee plant, and many other flora from across the globe.
Bringing colour and vibrancy to this park throughout the year, this word and these plants remind us that we are welcome here.