the other city

THE OTHER CITY explores alternative visions and mutant strategies for a rapid and just transition to a low-carbon future.

Another city is possible.

We combine unauthorized public installations with elaborate mixed-media content to conjure a series of hyperportals which disrupt people’s habitual experience, and invites them to explore alternative visions of Edmonton’s future.

These interventions reveal a city teeming with possibilities, impossible spaces, feral projects, eccentric animals, innovative pathways, and potential dystopias. We ask our audience to encounter new ways of thinking and inhabiting a complex & layered urban ecosystem.

Contact us to get notified when the next portal opens. You could be among the first to know when the weirding continues.

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Portal #1

The eerily scrawled message on the gate reads, “doors are beginning to open… will you choose to go through?” 

Learn more about this installation here

Portal #2

Oil and water don’t mix. The controversial TransMountain pipeline is being drilled under the North Saskatchewan River, 2KM upstream from the city’s water intake at the E.L Smith Water Treatment plant. Since 1961, the Trans Mountain project has reported 84 oil spills to the authorities.

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #3

Instead of following a path that seeks economic growth at all costs, we can withdraw from habits of overconsumption and waste, and pursue lifestyles that value and prioritize people and vital ecosystems.

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #4

Spring is the season of potential: new beginnings, new intentions, and movement towards renewal and restoration. As a community we have to decide if we want to continue down the path of ecological degradation with toxic habits and systems, or begin embracing interrelationships between humans, animals, and natural systems, to transition to a more sustainable way of life. What path will you choose?

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #5

According to the world’s top scientists and researchers, ongoing food shortages, natural disasters, and water scarcity related to planetary heating are likely to result in multiple wars over limited resources and unprecedented migration. To adapt to these converging crises we will need to become more resilient. We are capable of making changes that drastically decrease our negative impact on the environment. However, as important as lifestyle changes are, they are not sufficient. Achieving true “sustainability” requires TRANSFORMATIVE action. It means working within our community to ensure ecological stewardship and appropriate infrastructure are core priorities.

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #6

The city is at a crossroads. From its roots as a colonial outpost, through the booming days of Big Oil, to its current incarnation as an expanding urban center, Edmonton has had to face many challenges. Now, coping with the converging crises of Covid-19, accelerating planetary heating, and economic uncertainty, never have our choices mattered more. The next 5 years could very well determine what kind of future we will have for the following 50 years.

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #7

The future of our planet and civilization are gravely threatened by the continued extraction of oil for fossil fuels. At this late stage in the fight against intensifying planetary heating, extracting more fossil fuels, especially from the dirty and toxic tar sands of Alberta, is clear science denial.

Learn more about this installation here.

Portal #8

With global supply chain disruptions and the COVID-19 pandemic, people everywhere have begun to be more interested in local food systems and urban agriculture. As citizens, we need to reimagine how food and urban agriculture can make Edmonton an even better place to live, work, and play.

Learn more about this installation here.