Mariel Belanger, Tsēmā Igharas, and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge
June 22 to September 8, 2019
She’s always going to remember this
You are rebellion, resistance, re-imagination
Her body will remember
– Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, 2013
In her poem “Leaks,” Leanne Betasamosake Simpson writes that the process of remembering within the body is a powerful form of resistance. I read Simpson’s words as a reminder of the memory held in the body, and as a reassurance that embodied knowledge is a kept knowledge, passed between generations. Although Simpson is speaking towards specific events, her words are meaningful to this exhibition’s development more broadly. The words, “her body will remember” speak to the fact that Indigenous women are a resistance and that memories are held in the body, and can be interpreted through practice. Through the act of making, the artists in this exhibition exemplify survivance: an expression of presence and resiliency.
This exhibition seeks to make visible the processes of making, and the innovative technologies used in those processes. It explores the ways in which the knowledges inherent in producing materials by hand are passed down and held in the body. Drawing on practices and technologies translated between kin, and those that are self-taught, this exhibition makes space for three artists—Mariel Belanger, Tsēmā Igharas and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge—to investigate the intersection of technology and memory. Using innovative materials and thoughtful engagement in the creative process, the artists investigate the ingenuity of Indigenous arts practices passed through communities, families and kin, and those that are stored in the memory of the body.
Thank you to the Kelowna Art Gallery and Tania Willard for their support on this exhibition. And to Leanne Betasamosake Simpson for the words that inspired this exhibition.
Friday, June 21, 2019
5 to 6 pm | Curator Talk & Tour with Erin Sutherland
6 to 8 pm | Opening Reception
This event is a free event, open to members and guests by invitation.
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DIGITAL CATALOGUE
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