Annie France Noël created a performance of gentle actions which was visually stunning,  thematically ritualistic, and slightly unsettling. Dressed in a floor-length, deep royal blue dress, Noël sat in an old-style carved wood chair facing the audience. At her feet was a burlap bag of unprocessed wool. She slowly pulled blue woollen threads from a fold of her dress, all below the waist, one after the other, as if her veins, her tissue, her insides were being exposed. Threads in various blues tangled together. Simultaneously, the use of woollen thread inspired memories of women knitting, crocheting together, and teaching the younger family members skills. It was also evocative of family togetherness […], of creating blankets/clothing, birthing a child, or pulling out memories all wound up together in the never-ending cycle of life—the inheritances of culture and social behaviour we are all given. She sang a work song, a lullaby as she worked. Her calm and gentle movements revealed care...

This was Noël’s first foray into public performance art. The blue of her dress and the woollen threads refer to “the baby blues,” she says—a description of the post-birth experience of hormonal imbalance leading to sadness, depression and other mental issues. Blue is the colour of calm and also sorrow, Noël says, referencing the hospital gown, the medical pads, the glow of the baby monitor. At the end of the performance, there was a large tangle of knotted threads, impossible to unravel, which she held up to regard. The many post-birth experiences of learning to care for herself and her little one?  Her patience and focus throughout this performance leave us to believe that caring is primary for her, despite any struggles.