The Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (AGGV) has two new exhibitions coming to the gallery this summer, both of which are centred around Indigenous knowledge and teachings.
One of these new exhibitions, Meryl McMaster: Bloodline showcases McMaster’s stunning photography; the other, Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring is a film about where present-day Victoria stands.
“In Bloodline, Meryl McMaster’s works speak to her blended Plains Cree, Métis, Dutch and British ancestry and especially to her roots in the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in Saskatchewan,” said Steven McNeil, AGGV Chief Curator and Director of Collections and Exhibitions.
“McMaster’s photographs incorporate beautiful, contemporary garments, made by the artist herself that echo ceremonial regalia.”
According to the AGGV, Meryl McMaster: Bloodline will take visitors on a journey from her earlier accomplishments, to her current explorations of family histories. Of note, her more recent work analyzes her Plains Cree female forebears from the Red Pheasant Cree Nation in present day Saskatchewan.
All-in-all, this exhibition utilizes photographs across six bodies of work, which evoke themes of memory, containment, erasure and self-determination, says the AGGV.
Meanwhile, the second new exhibition, Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring, was created in order to share a brief history and overview of the Lekwungen territory.
(More below)
The filmmakers of Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring, Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle, say they want Indigenous knowledge of connection and responsibility for the lands to be at the film’s centre.
The goal with this moving film is that people gain a deeper understanding of and respect for the culture, language, traditions and history of the Lekwungen territories in spite of the settlement of this area due to colonization.
“Brianna Bear and Eli Hirtle’s film Lekwungen: Place to Smoke Herring speaks to the culture, traditions and language of the Lekwungen people and the Lekwungen territory, on which present-day Victoria stands,” said McNeil
“We hope the film will inspire visitors, and especially those who live and work in Victoria, to learn more about the Lekwungen people.”
These new exhibitions will launch in unison on June 18th and be running at the AGGV until October 19th.
