Internationally recognized artist and storyteller Naomi Eliana Pommier Steinberg will read from her memoir and travelogue; Goosefeather: Once Upon a Cartographic Adventure, May 23, at Powell River Public Library (PRPL).
The book is about “the time I went around the world with no airplane,” said Steinberg. “I was a solo female artist taking my show on the road.”
Goosefeather is an artistic endeavor spanning several years that started out from a conversation with her grandfather in Paris in 2011.
Steinberg wrote and performed a performance piece “based on interviews I had done with my grandfather, before he died,” said Steinberg.
That interview process developed the show called Goosefeather.
She asked her grandfather what was so interesting about measurement, and how he helped her grandmother survive the Second World War.
Her grandmother is Jewish, her grandfather is not, so taking the risk was necessary to hide her from the Nazis.
The theme of travel, borders, measurement and, “how to be a good person, and how do you help each other really drove the building of the Goosefeather show,” said Steinberg.
The show debuted at the 2014 Vancouver Fringe Festival, and is a 45-minute show that had clowning, movement, inquiry of space and time.
The theme of measurement, cartography and mapping grew into the idea of travelling the world, and eventually writing the book.
“I worked my way around the planet,” said Steinberg. “I took a 382-day journey, leaving on a boat from Vancouver to California; then I took a cargo ship 21 days across the Pacific Ocean to Australia.”
Her plan was to be in Japan for Hanami, the annual cherry blossom festival, and even though the artist faced some major setbacks, she made it. The specter of pirates on the high seas is very real, especially for captains sailing cargo ships.
“I worked up the coast of Australia and I wanted to go to New Caledonia next, and then to Hong Kong, but not all routes are permitted to take passengers,” said Steinberg. “That’s what made it difficult to leave Australia, because of pirates.”
After brainstorming how to leave Australia (not by plane), she found a cruise ship that would be stopping in New Caledonia on the second day. However, sometimes delays worked in Steinberg's favour. When hopping on cargo ships, sometimes passengers have to be ready to go last minute, and may not make their connection.
“When I got to Los Angeles, the very next day, the long-haul truck drivers went on strike,” Steinberg said. “That meant my cargo ship couldn’t leave; I was lucky, I stayed for 10 days in L.A.”
After she made her way back to Vancouver, she began writing, Goosefeather: Once Upon a Cartographic Adventure. Her book also features illustrations (by Jordan Bent) of antique measuring tools, a goose feather and a portrait of the artist.
There is “the delight of inquiry [in her artistic process],” said Steinberg. “My grandfather sent me to the South of France in 2011, to see where my grandmother hid during the war.
“When I was there, I found these three older women, who knew my grandmother, and one thing they shared was when water was first connected to the pipe, from the well to each person's home, residents could choose to purchase one or two goose feathers worth of water pressure. It’s an interesting measurement and fits my theme.”
The Canada goose is close to Steinberg’s heart as well, reminding her of the feeling of home. Steinberg will read from her book: Goosefeather: Once Upon a Cartographic Adventure, May 23, 7 pm, at PRPL.
There will also be a question and answer session and an interactive format, where participants can request a specific passage to be read (but there is no obligation to participate).
