A Garden and a Library: Planting workshop

Gathering in an outdoor courtyard, we invite you to a workshop on disability justice led by organizer Sahra Soudi followed by an interactive artist talk with Atanas Bozdarov.

Over the past year, Atanas Bozdarov has worked closely with Disability Justice Network of Ontario to develop A Garden and a Library; a portable flower garden that is structurally designed to be wheelchair accessible. This project conceptualizes gardening as a counter-labour to capitalist labour while also offering the opportunity for quiet moments of rest. Together, we will plant flowers in the garden and discuss accessible gardening, labour, and restorative practice.

This project was developed through Mayworks’ Labour Arts Catalyst in collaboration with the Disability Justice Network of Ontario.

Co-presented with Tangled Art + Disability and UrbanSpace Gallery.

Atanas Bozdarov is an artist and designer whose recent projects have explored systems and structures of accessibility, and architectural propositions for public space. He received his MDes from OCAD University, and teaches design in the University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College’s joint Art and Art History program.

Shulamit Sappire (Shully) is a wellness practitioner, writer, facilitator, and community advocate. In their various capacities, Shully creates environments that redefine wellness by centering community involvement and fostering spaces where different worlds intersect. Drawing from personal experiences as a sick, queer, black individual, their efforts center around disability justice, gender, race, and caregiving.

Disability Justice Network of Ontario works with community members locally in Hamilton and across Ontario to advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Their aim is to build a just and accessible Ontario, wherein people with disabilities have personal and political agency, can thrive and foster community, and to build the power, capacity, and skills needed to hold people, communities, and institutions responsible for the spaces they create.