Remarks on the Confluence of All Beings by Fenella Temmerman 

I am thrilled to be here and to accompany the Beings you are seeing here this evening. Thank you to the Sisters for including them in your vision.

I would like to tell you something of the story of All Beings Confluence. The beginnings were directly inspired in 2010 by the music and lyrics of Carolyn McDade; a weaver of words, composer, social activist and environmentalist. Her lyrics have inspired and sustained many women over the years. I see several familiar faces of those who met regularly to sing her music.

As we, in Winnipeg, sang Carolyn’s music, similar small groups of women were meeting together in cities across Canada and some Northern US States. We deepened through that experience before coming together to record what was to become “Widening Embrace.” In tradition with previous recordings of Carolyn’s music, a collaborative textile piece would accompany the launch.

A seed was planted. One Feb weekend in Saskatchewan, four of us met in the warmth of Martha Cole’s studio and this installation had its genesis. Martha, is a well known textile artist whose creativity celebrates this planet through creating art of great beauty. Out of that weekend in Saskatchewan, 4 Beings were born including blue green algae, who first provided this planet with oxygen.

With no budget, we painted on recycled sheers (curtains from second hand shops), using wheat paste, acrylics and machine stitching. The vision was nurtured; the Beings, human and more than human, began taking on their own life and energy.

At the Banff studios, women walked through and amongst the Beings to get to the recording studios. More Beings were created. The Beings themselves created community. To demonstrate the interconnectedness of all of life, no Being is ever hung alone.

From the beginning a sense of abundance emerged. This very abundance speaks of our universe – now in the hope that walks amongst the fragile. A sense of collaboration also emerged, with many individuals creating panels. It was, after all, a Widening Embrace. Artists and singers, and those who would never consider themselves as either contributed – it has always been inclusive.

Over 12 years Martha worked generously and tirelessly with many groups and individuals. Martha estimates there are likely 20,000 people who have walked through different installations. Each Being has its own story. I encourage you to read some of the stories in the books to the side of the installation.

The Beings have travelled, in a “Suitcase with Wings”, to over 50 venues in Canada, the US and beyond. Martha estimates that more than 20,000 people have walked through installations across the globe. Sister Gail Worcelo, from the Green Mountain monastery in Vermont, enabled Beings to be present at the World Parliament of Religions, also in Peru, Australia, New Zealand, Philippines, Indonesia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

Martha has been the Keeper of the Beings over all these years, now they are being divided into regional pods. The Manitoba and Saskatchewan Beings will form the Prairie pod, based in Saskatoon. If you have ideas for events, and we hope you do, they can easily return.

As you now move through the area, I invite you to interact with them, to touch and feel, to look through and around them, and sense the interconnectedness and sacredness of all life.

Fenella Temmerman