Welcome to “Miriam’s World”: SesayArts in conversation with Naomi Jaye

Naomi Jaye’s Miriam’s World is not only experiential, multi-screen video installation. It is also a homage to a book she loves.

The renowned filmmaker and multimedia artist’s latest project is based on Martha Baillie’s Scotiabank Giller-longlisted book, The Incident Report, set in a Toronto public library. Miriam’s World is a wry look into the life of the protagonist, Miriam Gordon, a librarian who works at the Toronto Public Library and a group of library patrons who frequent the branch where she works, and it exposes both the dark and humorous urban life and issues. 

The exhibit itself consists of filmed performances projected on scrims and immersive production design that has transformed Theatre Passe Muraille into a living library. Audiences will become patrons as they rifle through the library desks, finding strange notes and books left by other patrons (both virtual and real), as well as incident reports that Miriam wrote as a kind of journal that she recorded on blank incident report forms she found in the library where she works. Participants can interact with familiar things like bookshelves, reading lamps, files, and book carts, which provide a tactility to the show, while subverting notions about what to expect, what can be found and what can occur in public spaces. Within the physical installations, life-sized characters will appear in nine multimedia projection screens. Audiences are invited to move freely anywhere within the space in order to have a visceral experience of a public library.

In conjunction with the installation, Theatre Passe Muraille will also be hosting a number of free community events throughout December, including a “Living Lending Library” composed of de-commissioned library books and donated books. The space will also feature an interactive reading room where people can take books, leave books, read, and talk. 

Another feature will be a book-club reading of The Incident Report, workshops, and a community discussion on how the pandemic exposed and intensified the problems of the current housing crisis. These events will take place both online and in-person, and prompt participants to reflect on whom the library belongs to, and what makes a space for the public.

The experience of Miriam’s World is approximately 60 minutes and widely accessible. ASL interpretation will be available on December 11 and 17 at 2 pm and 3 pm. The entire run is both relaxed and a wheelchair-friendly experience. Audience members can also book accessible transportation to the theatre by calling or emailing Theatre Passe Muraille.

Given Jaye’s innovative vision and the calibre of her projects, Miriam’s World will give audiences much to savour. Her debut feature film The Pin played to acclaim in theatres across North America and her second film, The Incident Report, also based on Baillie’s novel, is due for release in 2023. She is currently completing a PhD at Queen’s University and is a lecturer at Metropolitan Toronto University. Ahead of the opening of Miriam’s World, Jaye spoke with SesayArts Magazine about the genesis of the project, its developmental journey and her personal connection to the source material as well as the public library.

SM: Let’s start with you. Please tell us a bit about you and why you pursued a career in the arts. Has it so far been what you hoped it would be?

NJ: I’m a narrative filmmaker who has recently been creating large scale video installations that focus on the architecture of narrative. Storytelling and creating feed my soul; I can’t imagine ever doing anything else.

SM: Miriam’s World has a unique and interesting premise! How did you get the idea for the installation, and what has the developmental journey been like?

NJ: I optioned Martha Baillie’s book The Incident Report in 2010 after stumbling upon it in a bookstore. I read the first page and called the publisher to get the rights – it was love at first sight. The book is a wry look into the life of librarian Miriam Gordon and a group of library patrons who frequent the branch where she works — and exposes both the dark and humorous urban life and issues. I spent years adapting it into a feature film before I had the idea to create a multi-screen installation. 

The book comprises 144 incident reports written by Miriam Gordon, a librarian who works in the public library system. The installation mimics this granular structure, favouring experience and feeling over narrative or plot. It explores how the small moments that make up our days, when gathered together can create something momentous. It was a really exciting journey developing Miriam’s World, taking my focus away from plot and structure to focus more on world building and tone.

SM: Who should experience Miriam’s World and what can they expect? 

NJ: Everyone! It is an experience unlike any other. Although it is being mounted at Theatre Passe Muraille, it is not a typical ‘theatre’ experience. The audience is encouraged to move freely in the space. The characters are all life-size video projections, so it gives an almost otherworldly feeling of being surrounded by ghostly patrons. There are tactile elements to the show – desks, papers, files, chairs, books, little nooks and crannies to be explored. I can say that this is not a narrative experience where an audience sits and watches a story from beginning to end. My hope is that the audience will truly engage with all of the parts of Miriam’s World and create their own experience.

SM: What part of Miriam’s World is especially compelling for you, personally?

NJ: I love the feeling of being surrounded and overtaken by a space. It is not something to watch from a seat, but something to be felt and experienced. It is a truly visceral installation.

SM: I read in the press release that one of the themes that Miriam’s World explores is the tension between public and private storytelling. How does it aim to do this?

NJ: Libraries are truly democratic spaces, open to all, welcoming all. There are so many private moments that happen very publicly in libraries. It is fascinating to me. The installation takes us inside some of these moments, oftentimes exchanges between the librarian Miriam and the patrons who frequent the branch where she works. Miriam’s World is a potent reflection of urban life in Canada, a virtual library filled with patrons of varying levels of stability and socio-economic realities. It speaks to a Global urban experience – problems of isolation, mental illness, suicide and the realities of displaced people. Miriam’s World exposes all these issues through private moments experienced by a group of regular patrons at a downtown branch. 

SM: What meaning and connection does the public library have for you personally, and what is something about a public library that you wish everyone knew? 

NJ: I spent my childhood at the library. From a very young age my mum would take my brother and I at least once a week, to read, sign, create, watch and learn. I have very fond memories of libraries, and spent much of my time working on this project in libraries, absorbing the atmosphere. Libraries are the last bastion of truly public space, and I find them endlessly fascinating. 

SM: What would you like to add?

NJ: My company Tremendous Productions and Theatre Passe Muraille have curated a series of community engagement events that asks the question, “Who does the library belong to?” and “What transforms a place into ‘public space’?” The TPM Backspace will become a “Living Lending Library” complete with a reading room to create a vibrant and interactive space where people can take books, leave books, read, and talk. Made up of de-commissioned library books and donated books, we invite our community to create our own library in the Backspace theatre. 

How do we build our own public spaces, foster connections, and exchange knowledge? In this space, we will hold a writing workshop with poet and performance artist Fan Wu as well as a community talk-back session looking back on the Alexander Park tent city. For information on how to sign up, visit: passemuraille.ca

Reserve tickets to Miriam’s World on the Theatre Passe Muraille’s website.

© Arpita Ghosal, SesayArts Magazine, 2022