WORDS & PHOTOS BY CHRIS TIESSEN
This past May, TOQUE partnered with Kitchener’s Kultiq Studio & Gallery for ‘Birds of a Feather’ – a vibrant, month-long pop-up art show in a stunning sunlit space at King and Water Streets in DTK.
The exhibit paired Kultiq’s dynamic artists with a handpicked crew of TOQUE-featured makers: luthier Tom Bartlett (of Maple Leaf Forever Guitar fame), milliner Georgia McNabb (whose hats have topped everyone from The Sheepdogs to the TOQUE team), bicycle builder Hugh Black (creator of titanium and steel dream machines), plane maker Konrad Sauer (whose hand tools have graced the cover of the Lee Valley catalogue), calligrapher Noriko Maeda (arguably the most celebrated Japanese calligrapher working outside Japan), motorcycle fabricator and all-round renaissance man Andy Cox (a Bonneville Land Speed Record-holder), and baseball glove artist Sean Kane (whose painted gloves are part of Cooperstown’s permanent collection).
Together, these artisans’ phenomenal works offered a bold blend of art, fashion, mechanics, music, and craft – each piece a celebration of imagination and skill.
Feast your eyes on highlights from the memorable opening night.
And if you have yet to visit Kultiq’s permanent studio and gallery at 48 Ontario St N in DTK, beeline there now. It’s a space worth seeing.
