The Reciprocity Garden | ᐋᐧᐦᑰᐦᑐᐃᐧᐣ (wâhkôhtowin)

What is a garden? A garden can be many things: A space to grow and cultivate food. A place of respite. A location to come together. A home for creatures that sustain humanity. Gardens can take diverse forms yet resonate among people of different experiences, simultaneously. 

In designing this garden there is an intention to open doors to our surrounding community, creating a space to gather and planting seeds to foster conversations about ways to sustain ourselves. We want to cultivate space where different ways of thinking can cross-pollinate, with the goal of understanding ways of being here together. 

The idea of ​“reciprocity” is often considered through the lens of trade, but what if we think about it more broadly? That is, reciprocity as general acts of goodwill with the intention of fostering a stronger community. The garden tries to accomplish this by embodying the Cree idea of wâhkôhtowin, a connection to all that surrounds us. Together we all benefit from taking the time to consider what we sow, be it plants, ideas, dreams, or relationships. 

Together in this space, the garden holds us all: the people, the plants, the creatures and the soil. It takes care to be able to thrive, and this tending gives us what we need in return. Through tending this space, we also care for each other. 

Organized by the Art Gallery of Alberta. Curated by Alaynee Goodwill-Littlechild, TD Curator of Indigenous Creativity, and Sara McKarney. Presented by the Poole Centre of Design.