You may be seeing clusters of dandelions in unusual places throughout downtown Edmonton.
It’s all part of an exhibit by The Works International Visual Arts Society.
The organization’s annual festival was cancelled this summer, so that experience is being replicated now.
“This is actually an exhibit we had considered for the festival and it was resonant at that time already as a powerful symbol of persistence,” executive artistic director of the The Works Art and Design Festival, Amber Rooke, said Sunday.
As you walk through downtown you can see the handmade dandelions inside different buildings and behind windows.
“We really felt like at this time in the year… seeing a little bit of hope and seeing some persistence with something, that was especially resonant now,” Rooke said.
The multi-site exhibit is called “Context is Everything” — created by Saskatoon artist Monique Martin.
“The dandelion is such a great symbol of strength and perseverance and resilience — and not yielding because it doesn’t care where it goes,” Martin explained.
“[People] can look to it and say, ‘I can be like the dandelion, I can go places that are tough and hard for me.'”
She installed them at surprise locations so anyone can see.
“I also wanted them to be outside of public galleries, because a lot people are uncomfortable going in to a gallery,” she said.
There are roughly 1,600 of the faux weeds downtown as part of the exhibit.
Martin hopes people enjoy them.
“On a deeper level, I hope people think about the dandelion and how we strive so much for a monoculture — we strive for everything to be perfect. Maybe if we let that go a little bit — maybe we can be more accepting of more people and situations in our life,” she said.
The dandelions will stay up for the rest of October, before moving to the next city.
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