Bookmark: Bead Talk and Radical Stitch

New titles celebrate today's beading movement

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BEAD TALK, Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands

Carmen Robertson, Judy Anderson, Katherine Boyer

University of Manitoba Press

Art & Architecture

May 2024

9781772840650

Bead Talk, Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands, is a small (8 ½" x 6"), but power-packed collection of interviews, stories and philosophical explorations. Katherine Boyer, Judy Anderson and Carmen Robertson edited the book, giving voice to a range of people involved in beading communities on the prairies: knowledgeable “aunties,” emerging artists, craft council members, academics, and curators. Published by the University of Manitoba Press, Bead Talk is part of the series, paskwāwi masinahikewina/Prairie Writing, that “supports the work of new and established scholars who are examining how prairie Indigenous peoples understand and shape their own worlds.” Bead Talk hits the mark.

The editors contend that visiting is key to the process of beading. Whether around the kitchen table, in university classes or at conference workshops, with Zoom, YouTube or in person, get-togethers build connections and reinforce relationships across generations. Knowledge is transmitted, skills shared, and new paths open. During the Covid years, many managed to visit via Zoom and the book opens with personal Zoom chats between a mentor and an emerging artist; a professor and student; and two colleagues. They talk openly about beading and what it means to them. Bead Talk offers insiders’ perspectives on the process, underscores the importance of relationships, gives insight into the calming zone of bead time and celebrates the excitement of shaping today’s beading movement.

Radical Stitch

AUTHORS: Sherry Farrell Racette, Michelle LaVallee, Cathy Mattes

PUBLISHERS: National Gallery of Canada and MacKenzie Art Gallery  

RELEASE DATE: 2024

ISBN: 978-0-88884-972-4

Also in French, Perler, radicalement

ISBN: 978-0-88884-973-1

AVAILABLE FROM: The Boutique- National Gallery of Canada, and The MacKenzie Shop

Radical Stitch, the beautiful catalogue that accompanies the major public exhibition of stellar works from across Turtle Island/Canada/USA pairs well with Bead Talk, a collection of intimate conversations and storytelling among communities of bead workers on the flatlands/prairies. What comes across clearly is the vibrant energy and dynamism of the visual culture of Indigenous beading today and the importance of relationships. 

The exhibition, Radical Stitch, organized by the MacKenzie Art Gallery, is now circulating internationally. The book, co-produced by the MacKenzie Art Gallery and the National Gallery of Canada represents more than 50 contemporary Indigenous bead workers. Crisp colour plates and detailed images convey the tactile, material qualities of their works. Curators Sherry Racette, Michelle LaVallee and Cathy Mattes sought — and succeeded — “to bring much-needed critical attention to the breadth and impact of contemporary beading practices.” 

Their text is augmented by insightful contributions from Gregory Scofield, Lori Beavis, Linda Grussani and Kristy Ulujuk Sawadski plus a transcript from an international panel discussion. The book design is thoughtful. Even the cover image and binding echo the exhibition’s premise. The folios are carefully stitched with sky-blue thread, matching the cover image, a detail of windy sky that wraps around Katherine Boyer’s Sky Vest. Winds bring change, and as the curators write in their text, so does a stitch. “How is a stitch radical? A stitch is a small step toward a new beginning, a tiny act of creation.” ■

Radical Stitch by Sherry Farrell Racette, Michelle LaVallee, Cathy Mattes, National Gallery of Canada and MacKenzie Art Gallery, 2024

Bead Talk: Indigenous Knowledge and Aesthetics from the Flatlands, edited by Carmen Robertson, Judy Anderson and Katherine Boyer, University of Manitoba Press, 2024

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