completed projects
Kingston: a guidebook from memory
published in 2025 by Robert Motum, Amanda Baker, and Grace Dixon with the support of the City of Kingston Arts Fund, Single Thread Theatre, and the Ontario Arts Council.
The book can be purchased in softcover or e-book and can be found in libraries and bookstores throughout Kingston.
Hamilton: a guidebook from memory
published in 2024 by Robert Motum, Jojo Chooi-Harley, and Jonathan Harley with the support of the City of Hamilton and Hamilton Artists Inc.
The book can be purchased in softcover or e-book and can be found in libraries and bookstores throughout Hamilton. Jonathan's accompanying score and short films can be found on Soundcloud and YouTube.
Kitchener-Waterloo: a guidebook from memory
published in 2016 by Robert Motum and Madeline Samms with the support of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund.
The book is available for free in e-book form here, or can be purchased as a softcover for $15 on our products page. It can be found in libraries throughout Kitchener-Waterloo.
Press about the Project:
Reviews:
community activations: launches, performances, and music vdeos
The Guidebooks from Memory project has come to life through a series of community activations that celebrate local storytelling in public space. In Kitchener, an eight-hour durational walk invited audiences to journey alongside performers, reading stories in the very places they occurred. In Hamilton, a book launch at Hamilton Artists Inc.—held during Art Crawl—featured live music and art-making demonstrations. In Kingston, a gallery installation at the Tett Centre for the Kick & Push Festival combined visual art, collage, and collected stories. Each activation transforms the guidebook into a shared, living experience—part performance, part archive, wholly rooted in place—while, inviting a our communities to come together to celebrate the project.
Images from our 2024 gallery installation at Kingston's Tett Centre as part of the Kick & Push Festival. Read about the artist and curator here.
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Celebrating our launch of the Hamilton guidebook with Hamilton Artists Inc. and members of the community.
To accompany the publication of Hamilton: a guidebook from memory our collaborator, Jonathan Harley, created a soundtrack of 48 unique compositions—each inspired by a memory and location from the book. Visit his YouTube page to watch the music videos.
To celebrate the launch of the Kitchener-Waterloo iteration, we led an 8-hour durational walking tour of the book—during which an audience filtered in-and-out across the day.