A-Y Bread, Locals Only
2017-2019
Locals Only was developed by Justin Langlois, curated by Tarin Dehod (AKA Artist-Run), and organized by Yvonne Hansen (CHEP Good Food)
Locals Only operated as an Elder-guided, artist-designed, and youth-coordinated mobile programming space, serving as a platform for intercultural dialogue and intergenerational capacity building by sharing traditional knowledge around food, hospitality, and community development in Saskatoon’s core neighbourhoods.
My project, A-Y Bread, brought together women from the cultural communities formative to the Riversdale neighbourhood to exchange bread making traditions and recipes. These recipes included bannock, mantou, and kolach. In the process of sharing, new bread recipes were created from elements of all of these traditions to form new recipes unique to the neighbourhood and intended for locals to enjoy.
Through this exchange, I connected with Sylvia Biron’s kind spirit and passion for baking, so when I returned in the fall of 2018, I invited her to make bread and bannock with me for a community dinner at AKA Gallery. Together we rolled up our sleeves to make the recipes from our summer exchange and invent a few new ones along the way. While spreading the flour and kneading the dough, Sylvia’s stories tumbled out one after another. Hoping to capture some of these anecdotes, I caught up with Sylvia for this interview, which is part of the Locals Only Publication.
I would like to acknowledge the generous contributions and sharing of recipes and stories. Deep gratitude to Sylvia Biron, Keith Jorgenson and Teth My from Nestor’s Bakery, and Yen Fung of the Heritage Wellness Society of Saskatoon.
Locals Only was supported by the Canada Council for the Art’s New Chapters program