Ren, the life-size glowing wooly mammoth is on the move!
Arts on the Ave commissioned lantern artist, GABS, to create Ren the Woolly Mammoth for the 2022 Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival in Borden Park. Ren the woolly mammoth was a vision of the Deep Freeze Festival team to bring light and joy to a city feeling isolated during a pandemic and in one of the longest and coldest months of the year. The fantastical idea of building a life-sized woolly mammoth was inspired by the festival's theme, "Under the Ancient Arctic Sky." It was the team's wish and desire to galvanize the community in coming together under one sky to celebrate our unique cultural fabric and to find beauty in our winter city.
The whimsy grandeur and soft glowing light of the mammoth was a signature festival feature that helped draw more than 50,000 visitors to Borden Park, a space known to be one of the darkest parks in Edmonton. Visitors walked through the festival promenade to watch the unfolding of folklore and cultural teachings told through artistic panache and magical illuminations.
Ren, the woolly mammoth's full name is минуле René: минуле (muh-new-leh) meaning past in Ukrainian, and René (ra-ney) meaning reborn in French. These names were chosen by the Deep Freeze team in honour of the cultures celebrated and shared at the Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival. Ren's name will be complete when the Deep Freeze Indigenous programmer finds the perfect, special name.
When building the lantern, several criteria needed to be met: the lantern had to be MAGNIFICENT, weather-resistant, and most importantly, economical. The Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival does not charge for tickets, and realizing our dream required ingenuity, passion, resourcefulness, and community connections.
We're grateful to CO*LAB for generously donating their studio space to allow us to build a project of this scale. Ren the mammoth is now on its next migration to the Royal Alberta Museum, where it will radiate light and happiness as it greets guests in the museum lobby.
About Arts on the Ave
Begun in 2005 and incorporated in 2007, Arts on the Ave Edmonton Society is a registered charitable organization engaged in developing 118th Avenue (75 – 106 Streets) into a community arts district to cultivate placemaking and positive urban renewal. The society nurtures creative environments for all individuals to experience the joy and benefits of artistic expression through its free signature art festivals: Kaleido Family Arts Festival and Deep Freeze Byzantine Winter Festival, and year-round programming at The Carrot Community Arts Coffeehouse, a social enterprise.
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