Gallery remains committed to reconciliation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 27/02/2020 (2227 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

During conversations about 2020 offerings at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, staff are quick to mention they build on the exceptional work of their predecessors, former executive directors Jennifer Woodbury and John Hampton.

Woodbury, from 2003 to 2016, and Hampton, from 2016 to 2019, laid the groundwork for 2020 — year three of a five-year strategic plan intended to deepen the gallery’s commitment to reconciliation with its own communities. In the strategic plan, Indigenous communities are specifically mentioned in the context of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to actions.

“The (gallery) was one of the first public art galleries in Canada to declare a programming commitment to Indigenous artists,” current executive director Deirdre Chisholm said.

Woodbury hired Indigenous curators and Hampton was transformative in his vision, she added.

Under Hampton, Indigenous programming increased, and so did the gallery’s funding from Canada Council for the Arts and the Manitoba Arts Council. While Hampton was the only Indigenous director of a public art gallery in Canada at that time, the Brandon gallery ranked second of all public art galleries competing for Canada Council operating funds.

But what does that mean for the public? A focus on the exploratory creative work of underrepresented artists tackling questions of our day.

“This year, 2020, the gallery committed to prioritizing BIPOC (black, Indigenous and people of colour) women and non-binary artists of the Prairies,” said curator Alyssa Fearon.

“The intention behind that is to give our audience, give our community, here in Brandon and southwestern Manitoba, an opportunity to get an in-depth look at some of the issues that are being faced by artists of these BIPOC communities in the Prairies.”

Next up at the gallery — from April 16 to May 23 — is KC Adams, most recently known for her powerful project “Perception,” which showed two photos of the same Indigenous person. One photo included a common negative stereotypical word used to disparage Indigenous people and one included a personal description of the model’s roles and accomplishments, as they perceived themselves in the world.

Adams, a member of Fisher River Cree Nation, will unveil her solo exhibition “Gage’gajiiwaan (water flowing eternally brings people together).” Not a stranger in Brandon, Adams has mentored young people in the community.

“The show is about the sacredness of water and KC reflecting on her relationship to water, as well as understanding her ancestors’ relationships to water,” Fearon said.

The exhibition will include copper vessels, pottery vessels and photographs. Researching at the Manitoba Museum in Winnipeg, Adams has immersed herself in re-learning traditional techniques.

Over the summer, the gallery’s digital initiatives manager, Cecilia Araneda, will guest curate an exhibition involving two emerging Indigenous artists based in Brandon — member of the Keeseekoose First Nation Dallas Flett-Wapash and Taylor McArthur, of Pheasant Rump Nakota First Nation. Araneda herself is of mixed race, European and Indigenous, specifically Mapuche. She fled Chile with her family and grew up in The Pas.

“That exhibition has a lot to do with challenging and reimagining ideas around the reservation. They’re both doing different takes on what that means,” Fearon said.

Flett-Wapash, a video game designer, will recreate a living room in a house that would be on the reservation, she explained. He will also design video games, using themes common on the reservation. The idea of the exhibit duo, as explained to Fearon, is that despite the fact there are many reservations in Manitoba, non-Indigenous Manitobans rarely step foot on reservations to visit.

“So (Araneda) wanted to work with Dallas and Taylor to challenge stereotypes that people might have about reservations, and to demystify what it’s like to live on, or grow up on, the reservation,” Fearon said.

McArthur works in 3D animation.

In the fall, Edmonton’s Christina Battle, a woman of colour, will work with knowledge keeper Barb Blind in the leadup to an exhibition focused on prairie grasses as a metaphor to explore how black and Indigenous peoples need to work together.

The gallery is also active in ensuring the wider community engages with the artists and their work. Its catalogue of interactive offerings — for schools or the general public, for children, youth or adults, even for families together — stretches local and creative learning. Former and current Brandon University students, such as Carly Morrisseau and Jessie Jannuska, join gallery staff in teaching.

“For example, with the KC Adams exhibition, schools will be able to come in, students will be able to view the artwork in person, ask questions,” said art educator Chris Cooper.

“Then they get to go into the studio and create works of art that are inspired by the pieces. We have some clay workshops coming up in connection with the exhibition.”

 

» mletourneau@brandonsun.com

» Michele LeTourneau covers Indigenous matters for The Brandon Sun under the Local Journalism Initiative, a federally funded program that supports the creation of original civic journalism.