“City Mail is not pragmatic or competitive (as we learned during the recent postal strike). Nor does it seek to replace other systems of communication, but rather to reinstate consideration into the act of communicating. Each piece of City Mail is a sign of thoughtfulness, a representation of a city, its people and the connections therein. The circuitous route each message takes opens up a new understanding of urban living.”
So wrote Andrew Patterson in the most recent issue of Broken Pencil introducing us to City Mail- a volunteer-operated mail program in Halifax -created by artist Alison Creba. The system of alternative mail saw volunteers delivering mail across the city by foot, bicycle and skateboard for a short few years in Halifax. Bright blue mail boxes popped up around town; the City Mail team built a temporary mail office in an empty storefront on Barrington Street. Unfortunately when Creba later left Halifax for New Brunswick and then Toronto, the project has petered out some. But as Andrew Patterson writes, the spirit of City Mail lives on and you can see the proof here in Creba’s return letter to Andrew Patterson below….
