Jocelyn Purdie and Residents of the Swamp Ward

Our Projects - Kingston InSightS Project

Participants include residents of the Swamp Ward from a range of backgrounds, age groups and experiences. The link between members of the group is the commitment to the culture of this north end neighborhood.

Within this framework, participants were encouraged to become more engaged with their neighborhoods through an exploration of particular aspects that have personal significance or have impacted on their lives in some way, whether it is socio-cultural, environmental or political. In developing the concept for their project, participants were encouraged to keep in mind questions such as the manner in which the neighborhood functions and interacts and their role/responsibility as individuals both within that neighborhood and as part of a larger community. There were many ways participants could choose to respond. Inspiration could revolve around a particular site or landmark, an aspect of the ongoing activity of daily life or an issue or concern.

After much discussion it was decided that the project will manifest itself in the form of a deck of playing cards. Fifty two images have been created from the photographs taken by the community participants. Each image/collage will appear on the playing card side of the deck, the reverse side having a map of the Swamp Ward. Often sold as souvenir items one might pick up on a visit to a tourist destination, this type of playing card features renowned historical and cultural sites/attractions of cities or countries.

For this project we will be featuring the area known as the Swamp Ward except that our "features/attractions" are our neighborhood and aspects of the everyday.