Annabel Howard is an interdisciplinary writer, educator, and inspirational speaker. Trained as an art historian, she uses word and image to craft engaging stories, lectures and workshops for international audiences of all persuasions. Originally from East Anglia (UK) Annabel lives in Tiohtià:ke (Montréal) and is currently a Geography PhD Student at the University of Victoria.

The Artwork

Howard will look at how citizens can creatively connect to place in fast-moving, urban environments. Using Nature-based Solutions (pollinator gardens in Montreal’s “green alleys” and other overlooked, neglected spaces) her work asks how urban citizens can create a sense of commons and forge space (physical and psychological) for ritual and reverie against the backdrop of construction noise, car fumes, and population density. What fugitive moments can we claim through actions like guerilla gardening? How can we learn to attend to place through micro rituals? What might be some small, practical steps that can help enlarge our capacity for relating to, and caring for, the shared spaces in which we live?

Her project will culminate in a community-produced Zine, as well as a selection of ritual instructions that ask “What words, actions, and incantations can we find (and create) to elevate our engagement with, and attention to, place?”