Ice Follies - Feb 7-21

By Richard Coffin

Ice Follies includes everything from large-scale installations to immersive performances

We’re learning more about the artists and their work that will be on display during Ice Follies next month.  

The 11th edition of the biennial festival runs Feb. 7-21 at Shabogesic Beach on Lake Nipissing, Downtown North Bay and Olmstead Beach on Trout Lake (Feb 15-16).  

Organizers say this year’s festival explores the theme Ozhaashikwaa (The Ice is Slippery) with several local and regional artists.  

They say works range from large-scale installations to immersive performances, engaging with Northern landscapes and cultural narratives. 

Featured artists by location: 

Shabogesic Beach (Lake Nipissing): Outdoor Installations & Performances on the Ice  

• Aanmitaagzi: All My R(el)ations – A powerful opening night performance (Feb 7) and activation of their installations, exploring our connections to water, ancestors, and community.  
• Andrew Ackerman: Fire and Flood – A striking blackened house-like sculpture, illuminated from within, reflecting on humanity’s fragile relationship with nature.  
• David Chops: A Spectrum of Interconnected Cooperation – A participatory installation with illuminated trees and reflective cubes, inviting contributions by visitors.  
• Anyse Ducharme: The Water Was a Sheet of Glass – A site-specific installation featuring AI-generated voices reciting hashtags, highlighting the tension between digital and lived experiences.  
• Nico Glaude: Sign Language – Monoliths adorned with hand-painted signs, reflecting themes of resilience, personal growth, and memory.  
• Studio Nude Beach: Beastie Bones – A glowing ribcage-like installation blending folklore and dynamic decay, symbolizing nature’s ephemeral beauty.  

Downtown North Bay: Photographic Reflections on Ice Follies’ Legacy  

• Liz Lott: Frozen Frames – An Ice Follies Retrospective – A photographic exhibition at WKP Kennedy Gallery, showcasing one image from every participating artist since 2004, celebrating two decades of creativity.  

Olmstead Beach (Trout Lake): Sound & Light Interventions – Feb 15-16 (7 pm & 9 pm)  

• Hyperboreal (Dermot Wilson & Jason Brock): Ice Shifts/Elevations – A mesmerizing audio-visual performance of synchronized electronic music and video projections on the misty icy lake.  
• New Adventures in Sound Art (NAISA) with Lina Choi, Stephanie Dupuis, Genevieve Kiessling, Shaughn Martel and Kyle Vanderlaan: Ice Sounds – Compositions of ice-recorded soundscapes from Lake Nipissing and Trout Lake, combined with texts. 

The festival is free to attend and open 24/7. 

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