GREG REESE
Arts Editor

Saskatoon’s population has recently reached 250,000. This rather sudden increase in population reflects our economic growth during a time when the world around us has plunged into an economic recession.

While this prosperity has meant the creation of many jobs, especially in infrastructure, it has also caused rent prices to soar. Many who have not prospered as a result of this economic upswing are paying heavily.

    Folie/Culture, a Quebec-based activist art group, will be setting up a series of makeshift dwellings across Saskatoon beginning on Oct. 20 and ending on Oct. 23 for their art show Nomadic Dwellings, put on in conjunction with Saskatoon’s artist run gallery, AKA.

“In Saskatoon’s current economic climate, not everyone gets to take part in the windfall,” said Tod Emel, the artistic director of AKA Gallery. “Folie/Culture offers a collision between the two worlds of art and activism, which are not always this closely equated.”

The dwellings are made from materials that are readily available and recyclable, in order to create a sense of realism in terms of what a homeless person could conceivably come up with on their own.

    A number of artists and architects are involved in this project, so there should be a variety in the style of the structures but the goal, to raise awareness of itinerancy, will also function in creating a thematic consistency.

“We are going to set it up in some highly visible location in town and then in the gallery,” said Emel. “Some locations we are looking at are Kiwanis Park — that’s one a lot of people drive by; it’s high profile — and five corners by Victoria school on Broadway. We have talked to the police to make sure they don’t just get taken down.”

Saskatoon is the last stop for Nomadic Dwellings. It has been displayed in Quebec City and Montreal before coming to Saskatoon.

Although the primary function of the project will be to raise awareness of homelessness, Folie/Culture also looks at the links between mental illness and creativity.

“This group has been doing this for 20 years. One idea they are looking at is the close relationship between madness and the creative process: disturbed thinking. The distinction is sometimes difficult to quantify. However, itinerancy can be the result of mental illness for many.”

As Folie/Culture is based out of Quebec and includes mainly French artists, Emel hopes the opening this Friday will attract members of Saskatoon’s Francophone community.

“It would be great to have some French speakers out, as some of the artists are unilingual.”

The dwellings will be displayed at AKA Gallery after they have been shown in the public. Artist talks will been included in the opening