Twenty-five years ago, Charlotte founded Wuthering Bites, a café on the Lakeshore in Mimico that focused on the arts and community. With a diverse background in teaching, research and advocacy, and a passion for writing and visual art, Charlotte is thrilled to now be working with Lakeshore Arts as they launch exciting new initiatives for our South Etobicoke neighbourhood. She is especially thrilled to have a unique opportunity to focus on engagement and programming for seniors.
Treasures of Ours
Timaj Garad
Mot
Presented by: Timaj Garad
Ethnicity: Ethiopian
These are wall ornaments called ‘mot’ from traditional Harari-Ethiopian basket weaving. Each mot also tells a story and has a function. Growing up, I used to help my mom arrange several mot on the walls of our dining room. Hararis use dining rooms as a place to both entertain guests and as a prayer space with usually only a rug and some pillows (no dining table) decorating the space, aside from the mot. Mot arrangement was a way to make a new space feel like home and make an old space new. For the women in my family, it was and still is a form of bonding through artistic curation.
Image taken by me.