Echoes From This Land: Visioning Truth and Reconciliation

Description

View the Echoes From This Land Exhibit and hear 3 participating artists talk about the artwork they created in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action.

Additional Information

This is an in person event.  Please, do not attend if you are not feeling well.

In acknowledgement of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, RPL will host the Echoes From This Land exhibit. This national project uses art to illuminate the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation of Canada report. 

Exhibition on display: 11am-2pm

Artist panel presentation: 12pm – 1pm

Echoes from This Land: Visioning and Revisiting the Truth & Reconciliation 94 Recommendations fostered a collaborative experience that provided artists and creators from Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities of different backgrounds, ages, genders, ethnicities, abilities, incomes, nationhood, and nationality with a forum to openly discuss and better understand the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission and the 94 Calls to Action.

 

Through group discussions and interactions with guest lecturers, knowledge keepers, and Residential School and Sixties Scoop survivors, the project’s artists and creators gained intimate knowledge of the forced removals of Indigenous children from their families. They were then encouraged to share their understandings of their chosen call through their own lenses and lived experiences. Through these visual representations, the project aims to create a deeper understanding of the history of colonization that continues to impact Indigenous communities across Turtle Island to this day.

Echoes from This Land encourages viewers to connect with the visual reflections of artists and creators interpretating the 94 Calls to Action; adding visual understanding to the printed words. The project aims to inspire people in all communities to gain insight of these calls and enrich their understanding and commitment to action. The goal of this project is to include all voices in the circle wherein artists and creators developed print editions using traditional and new media forms of printmaking such as linocuts, woodcuts, stone and plate lithography, etching, photo-etching, 3D printing, collagraph, screen printing, digital media, and performance or hand/digitally altered art creation and production.

The works created in the Echoes from this Land embody the spirit and power of community coming together as a collective voice to lift, hold space, listen, and make change happen.

Artist Panel Bio

I am Joviel Buenavente, an emerging multimedia artist based in Regina. Having been exposed to a range of media at the University of Regina, my BFA has largely focussed on the creative and conceptual possibilities of painting, sculpture, and printmaking. I graduated with my BFA in 2020, but I am currently in the Post-Baccalaureate program to build my portfolio in preparation for my Masters in the future. Throughout my years in the BFA program, I have exhibited in Regina through the Fifth Parallel Gallery, The Lobby Gallery, The Woods Arts Space, Art Gallery of Regina, Art Mur in Montreal, Art Placement Gallery in Saskatoon through Bridges Art Movement (BAM) and most recently in Last Mountain Lake Cultural Centre in Regina Beach.

 

Stacey Fayant is Métis, Nehiyaw and Saulteaux on her father’s side and French on her mother’s side. She is a visual artist from Regina and a member of Peepeekisis First Nation. She completed a BFA with a double major in Painting and Printmaking from The University of Regina in 2002 and BA with Honours in Women’s Studies in 2004. Stacey has been angry since early childhood due to the racism she experienced and witnessed growing up in Regina. In a time before the larger society spoke of colonialism, intergenerational trauma, a time before there were any calls to action; Stacey and her family and her community felt the negative effects of colonization daily. That is how she came to be an artist and specifically an artist most interested in making. Her art practice has always focused on concepts surrounding identity and trauma in relation to colonialism and racism, but also in relation to healing, family, and community. Her art is a means of gathering and sharing knowledge of family, history and stories to her daughter, her family and her community. She works in many mediums including beading, felting, sewing, painting, printmaking, and Indigenous Cultural Tattooing.

 

Mackenzy Vida (she/her) is a multidisciplinary artist from Treaty-4. Her art practice focuses on illustration, painting, and printmaking. In early childhood, art therapy ignited her passion for creativity. Mackenzy is currently exploring her practice as an emerging artist on the prairies, highlighting moments of connection and vulnerability with expressive linework. Mackenzy is a graduate of the University of Regina in Visual Arts with a minor in Creative Technologies, a member of SaskQueer, and a member of SK Printmakers. While working at the MacKenzie Art Gallery, she found inspiration for this project through the thoughtful exhibitions and programming hosted at the Gallery.

 

Emcee

Robert Truszkowski earned a BFA from Queen’s University and a MFA from Concordia University. He has exhibited and lectured internationally, winning awards and recognition as an important artist working in contemporary Printmaking. In 2018 he was Visiting Scholar at the Kyoto University of Art & Design, and Kyoto Seika University, in Kyoto, Japan. He lives and works on Treaty 4 Land and is currently Professor of Printmaking and Head of the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Regina.

Supported by the Future of Canada Project at McMaster University

McMaster University | Future of Canada Project