Exhibits address harmful impacts of colonization

Two new art exhibitions addressing the ongoing harmful impacts of colonization on Indigenous peoples are opening at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba today.

The mixed media exhibition “Reconciliation, Resilience, and Red” by Brandon-based artist Justina McKay and a collaborative community installation titled “Tears of Truth” are open to the public starting at 5 p.m. in the Kayes Community Gallery.

There will be opening remarks from a knowledge keeper at 5:30 p.m.

The creation of McKay’s exhibition has “been a long time coming” and features 23 paintings and two beaded moss bags, which are used to keep babies warm in the Indigenous culture, she said.

“I’m not an elder, but I do have a lot of knowledge, and I feel that as a painter and as an Indigenous woman that I need to help educate people,” McKay said.

“We need people to understand where we’ve come from, where we’ve been, what’s happening to … our society.”

McKay, who’s originally from Minagoziibi Anishinaabe First Nation (Pine Creek), uses contemporary and traditional Indigenous art techniques in her works to honour missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit people.

The exhibit is inspired by the REDress Project created by Métis artist Jaime Black in 2010 and Murray Sinclair, the late Anishinaabe senator and renowned Manitoba lawyer who led the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

“Sinclair’s book really hit home a lot because my dad went to residential school and my older siblings all went to residential school,” McKay said, adding that she was forced to attend the Pine Creek Indian Residential School from 1973 to 1980.

“It’s kind of sad, I guess, that we’ve all had to experience it, but at the same time, we need to remember where we come from and who we are as a people and help others.”

She reread the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and stories that her dad told her about what happened to him within the residential school system to paint the piece “I Did Not Do Anything Wrong.”

The acrylic painting uses dark red and black paint to depict a girl crouched against a brick wall covered with words or phrases related to the abuse children faced.

Another painting called “Medicine Dress” shows a woman standing in a red jingle dress with her hands on her hips. The names of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls and Two-Spirit are written across the canvas.

“I’ve always believed that there’s spirit in everything. There’s spirit in where we are and who we’ve lost, and I truly believe there’s spirit in nature as well. So, that’s how I try to perceive my paintings,” McKay said.

“I would like people to understand that we can reclaim our past for the good of our future.”

McKay said she’s studying at the University of Manitoba to become a social worker and expects to graduate in June. Most of the exhibition was painted during her spare time within the past year, she said.

“I really work well under pressure. I was painting steady for the last two months,” she said.

The installation “Tears of Truth,” located in the gallery’s Moon Lounge overlooking Rosser Avenue, encourages contemplation and remembrance of the devastation inflicted on communities by the residential school system.

The piece was conceptualized by Tara Leach, a teacher at Prairie Hope High School in Brandon.

Raven Willoughby, the Brandon School Division’s Indigenous education learning specialist, said the project started during a three-day event for Truth and Reconciliation at the Brandon Riverbank Discovery Centre where Grade 4 to 6 students made strands of beads.

“Each of those strands represents an individual who took the time to honour the children of a residential school who were lost or affected,” she said.

The colours of the beads represent the tears, the known and unknown victims and the survivors of residential schools.

There are about 302 strands in total, Willoughby said.

The tactile project was a way for students to create a deeper connection to truth and reconciliation and engage in conversations with others.

Elementary and high school students in the Brandon School Division, along with students in surrounding divisions and at Brandon University, participated in the project throughout the fall.

“We’re really excited to have an opportunity to have done something as a community and then to be sharing that back into the community,” Willoughby said.

She said some of the schools are planning trips to view the exhibitions in the gallery this spring.

Lucie Lederhendler, artistic director at the gallery, said the strands will be hung in curtains from willow staffs.

“The point of seeing art in person is to move your body through a story,” she said.

“I hope that people (who) come keep their minds open, keep their hearts open, get ready to, you know, contend with difficult knowledge.”

The exhibitions will run concurrently from March 26 to June 6.

» tadamski@brandonsun.com