Connecting to the History of Indigenous Making

Artistic research and process-driven work take shape in a powerful group exhibition at Gallery 1C03 in Winnipeg. Shards, the latest in a wave of exhibitions making rich connections to the history of making in Indigenous culture, connects four local artists with ceramics used by women thousands of years ago.

KC Adams, Jaime Black, Lita Fontaine and Wabiska Maengun (Niki Little) worked with independent curator Jenny Western and Kevin Brownlee, the curator of archaeology at the Manitoba Museum, in partnership with the Manitoba Craft Council. Western says the focus was to connect original female makers – the word shards refers to the relics of their pots – with contemporary Indigenous artists, trying “to place that once-held knowledge of ceramic production back into their hands.”

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Selkirk Pot (Ealf-46/W1) University of Winnipeg Anthropology Collections. Photo by Karen Asher.

Selkirk Pot (Ealf-46/W1) University of Winnipeg Anthropology Collections. Photo by Karen Asher.

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Replica Rainy River Pot (A2004-1/WR27) University of Winnipeg Anthropology Collections. Photo by Karen Asher.

Replica Rainy River Pot (A2004-1/WR27) University of Winnipeg Anthropology Collections. Photo by Karen Asher.

The title of the exhibition, which continues until Dec. 2, was each artist’s starting point. Over two years, the four women connected with shards of historical pottery from both the Manitoba Museum and the University of Winnipeg’s anthropology collections, eventually creating new works that honour the stories and power in the original pots. The project realizes the artistic potential of deep cultural investigations into the narratives held by historical objects.

Clay’s tactility is central to many works in the show, raising questions about how touch can hold memories and create new ones, and how hands from the past can teach hands of the future.

Adams and Black used a performance at the show’s opening to bring action to their connection to the land and their understanding of it. Black’s photographs document and honour the importance of touch with both the land and the roles of women in Indigenous cultures.

The show dissolves boundaries. Historical vessels sit amongst new works, affirming connections and understanding. Maengun’s delicate woven baskets are placed within Adams’ clay pots, while a photograph of Maengun and her daughter faces the work. While Adams may be best known for her Perception series, a 2014 photo-based project that combats stereotypes about Indigenous people, she has worked with clay for years. In her installation for this show, Adams places stones around an array of clay in various stages of handling. She connects past and present by cradling a video screen in a pot at the centre of the piece, titled nipêkoskopanin ê-kîwêyân (i awaken as i come home).

Fontaine’s signature vibrancy pops a different level of life and understanding into the show’s earth-toned palette. In Red Shawls (Tipi Cover 1), she repeats the motif of a red-cloaked woman – perhaps in reference to Black’s REDress Project, a series of women’s dresses that responds to the tragic saga of missing and murdered Indigenous women. The effect is to reinforce the connection between past power and present healing.

It’s an incredible feat to connect with history in such an authentic and visceral way. The room itself seems to take on the weight of this important work. While Gallery 1C03 is not the biggest exhibition space in Winnipeg, the ideas this show brings forth are larger than life.

Gallery 1C03

515 Portage Ave, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3B 2E9

204-786-9253

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