OTIPEMISIWAK: The People Who Own Themselves
Group Exhibition Ft. Christi Belcourt and Michelle Morin
Mirroring the discussion of today’s global issues, this exhibition turns to art, collaboration and history to help charter a path forward to understanding and reconciliation. Partnering with the West Kootenay Métis Society, Métis Art and History – OTIPEMISIWAK: The People Who Own Themselves enlists the community, working with traditional art forms in artist-led workshops throughout the year, to create the work featured in the large-scale exhibition.
Métis Art and History – OTIPEMISIWAK: The People Who Own Themselves is proud to include work from renowned Canadian artist Christi Belcourt and her works, Wisdom of the Universe and So much Depends Upon Who Holds The Shovel. These works have provided the pattern and inspiration for the various workshops, and the work created plays an important role in the exhibition.
The exhibition also features an archival component, from the Shawn Lamb Archives, as well as other regional archives and organizations, and from private collections. Métis art and History is a living, changing project that is created and constructed with influences from both the historical documents and current affairs that shape our current consciousness.
This exhibition is made possible by the partnerships with Don and Nicole Courson, President and Vice-president of the West Kootenay Métis Society, as well as Maurice Trudel, Indigenous Youth Internship Program Lead, Diversity and Inclusion Branch of the BC Public Service Agency, and the work of artist and educator Michele Morin and Nicole Courson, who have been undertaking traditional Métis art workshops including pointal painting and beading for the past several months facilitated by Lesley Garlow, Touchstones Nelson Museum Indigenous Educator and Curator Arin Fay. This project was generously funded by the BCAC Youth Engagement Program (YEP).
Contributors also include: Brodie Douglas, Metis Historical Researcher with the Metis Nation British Columbia, Heather Devine, Associate Professor Department of History University of Calgary, Sherry Farrell Racette, and the beautiful work of Lisa Shepherd and Kristi Bridgeman.
See Also
Metis Art and History Exhibition Video
West Kootenay Metis Society: OTIPEMISIWAK “The People that Own Themselves”