Shore Lunch is an ongoing, multi-site, mobile art venue that takes the form of a make-shift camp kitchen. Complete with propane burners, tables, shelter, and bucket seating, this performance space invites people to share food and conversation. Shore Lunch has engaged the public on the shores of the Rideau Canal in Ottawa, next to Lake Ontario in Toronto, on the island of Montreal, and is now hammering down tent pegs in Mississauga. Inspired by stories of my mother’s fishing skills and her love for pulling up on an island and frying up fish over a fire, I created this project to think more about the layers of history, and the interaction between waterfront leisure areas and industrial hubs around the Great Lakes. Shore Lunch in Clarkson/Mississauga will delve into the history of fruit farms in the area and acknowledge the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee workers who traveled from reserves in Central Ontario to pick fruit in this Lake Ontario region. Drawing from written history and stories from community and family, I have created three structures for three sites. Each site offers interaction and hospitality. At one site, the Shore Lunch mobile camp kitchen cart serves as a space for sharing food and stories. At the second, a wall tent encampment is set up for transient visitors passing by, who can borrow small picnic bags for their movement between sites. The final structure is a small shack, furnished to convey the history of migrant labour, including Indigenous workers. Considering this migrant worker history also means thinking about migrant labour within current food systems. Shore Lunch creates a space to camp out for a while to acknowledge the different kinds of sustenance we get from a place.
