Twillingate

Differences and Samenesses

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Since moving to Newfoundland, I have continually found myself in touch with a part of the province with historic linkages to France. I am Acadien and also have a particular relationship with France. What I am finding the most fascinating is how our views of “the other” are different as they are the same.

A mixture of trepidation and acceptance by necessity seems to be always present. When I first met my father in law, who I truly love, he first showed me a membership card to an Orange Lodge… and then one for another. He looked at me with a smile, and I understood that he understood. This has been my experience here.

I spend a good bit of time camping and touring the Port au Port peninsula and I find my experience similar in most aspects. I actually walked the trail that Émile Benoit would take to play fiddle in Cap St. George from his home in Mainland… a good hike.

Now I find myself in Twillingate, and I learned it was first named Tourlinguet because of its appearance to Tourlinguet on the Brest Peninsula in France. What follows are my images from Twillingate with an image from Google Maps. A bit random, but I made connections.

Twillingate
Tourlinguet
Twillingate
Tourlinguet
Twillingate
Tourlinguet

The first sound work (a draft really but still progress)

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In 1888, Geogina Stirling took to the stages of Europe as Marie Tourlinguet, a stage name taken from the French spelling of Twillingate.

From the paths of Twillingate to the streets of Paris, from church basements to the opera houses of Europe, Marie Tourlinguet sang to the world in a career which spanned two continents and reached into the next century. (courtesy the Twillingate Museum)

The original post included text from the Canadian Encyclopedia that is not entirely accurate. I was corrected by the author of the book you can find at the following link, “The Heart’s Obsession” by Tonia Evans Cianciulli.

This is a recent and complete reflection on Georgina Sterling’s life.

https://flankerpress.com/product/the-hearts-obsession

Marie Tourlinguet – From the paths of Twillingate to the streets of Paris.

As a side note… this is how I recorded this for the purposes of letting you hear my work in progress.

Zoom listening to headphones.

I have also started piecing together some moving images for projection.

Twillingate Draft sketch 01

Orange is the new “that” colour.

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The “secret” societies, oddly they work for good but do so with a blanket of secrecy that is really interesting. That no members have felt the compulsion to write it all down in a “tell all” book, revealing all the rituals and rites of ceremony is, indeed, incredible.

This seems so anachronistic to the open book policy our affirmative politics seem to point us towards. But again, I am drawn and fasciated with these institutions and how they manifest themselves in the oddest of places.

L.O.L. does not mean laugh out loud here, it is the Loyal Orange Lodge.

My Acadian upbringing in Moncton gives me a particular perspective on Orangemen, but coming to Newfounland and actually getting to commiserate with members of the order, I come to see another point of view. Not excusing past goings on but putting them in their proper context as time and place should inevitably allow us to do.

Old Dogs and their new tricks

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texture

Today I was reacquainted with a long lost love, the fish plant. There is something about these places that simply inspired so many things for me. They stand in the middle of communities and yet represent hard labour in cold dank spaces with cement floors. And they do seem to carry a certain fishy odour so no one wants to live next to them.

Notre Dame Fisheries Plant

To me, they seem oddly attractive; alluring even. I have always been attracted to landscapes marked by industry and commerce. The sheets of sheet metal, corrugated or not become silky surfaces where one can tough the effects of time.

These landscapes speak of how we see the land and how we use it as we see fit. This is all changing now, there is a new appreciating for the impact of human life on the planet.

Bent (XXIII)

This is my second day here. I was pretty productive, getting to find those special spots to explore and meeting a few local folk. One hello even invited me into his home to show me some of his special objects. The living room was full of classic books and curious objects from around the world. I am certain I will visit again.

Ladder, wood that appears to be for mounting things but no evidence of what might have been mounted on these blocks.

I also recorded some sound at the government wharf, today was not a big day for the fishermen, those ships stayed in port. But a Coast Guard cutter and many pleasure craft were out and about on this remarkably beautiful day.

Doors without Jim Morrison