The Lost Museum

2024 / Performance, Small Arms Inspection Building, Mississauga

The Lost Museum exists beyond space and time. It is here and there all at once, it is then and now simultaneously. It is a place where all things lost, abandoned, discarded and forgotten are found. Beyond the location, we always imagined the Lost Museum being inhabited. In it’s original inception, I created the character of the Alchemist, the embodiment of the museum itself, the curator, collector and caretaker of all things within the museum. For this in-person version of the Lost Museum, we wanted to add moving pieces to the event that would happen regardless of audience presence or not.

My “Inhabitants” roamed the festival grounds, interacting with the exhibits and the public. Their task was to bring life to the museum, to make it feel “lived” in. There is a sense of ritual to their movements and tasks, that they do what they do every night without falter.

The 6 core Inhabitants were accompanied by Bartenders, Musicians and Storytellers who infused their presence with persona, and dancers who wandered nonverbally, interacting with each other and their surroundings.

Every evening began with a Grand Parade of Things Found around the south hall and ended with a spectacular Finale to celebrate journeys taken and friends made.