Public artwork by Marianne Nicolson launched in Nanaimo

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Marianne Nicolson, public artwork on exterior of Nanaimo Art Gallery

Marianne Nicolson, an artist of Scottish and Dzawada̱'enux̱w First Nations descent recently unveiled her new public artwork on the exterior of Nanaimo Art Gallery. Commissioned by the Gallery, Nicolson’s artwork responds to this site, while expanding on themes in her solo exhibition Awi’nagwiskasu: Real Land.

The Gallery’s lot backed onto a tidal inlet until 1964, when it was filled in for industrial and commercial uses. Nicolson understands the reconfiguration of Nanaimo’s waterfront as part of a long history of the exploitation of environments and resources for the sake for profit. In her artwork she utilises early twentieth century pictographs from her community in Kingcome Inlet that show the influx of settlement and resource extraction on Dzawada̱'enux̱w traditional territory. By paralleling these two sites and histories, Nicolson links early twentieth century state appropriation of Indigenous lands to the ongoing and widespread exploitation of land and water resources.

This public artwork was launched on the 150th anniversary of confederation, at a time when communities and institutions, including Nanaimo Art Gallery, are participating in conversations about the process of reconciliation. Nicolson’s work celebrates the re-emergence of Indigenous people’s voices, while articulating that there can be no true reconciliation between Indigenous and settler societies without an acknowledgement of Indigenous peoples’ displacement from their lands.

This artwork is also presented as a part of Nanaimo Art Gallery's celebration of our 40th anniversary in 2017. All year, through exhibitions, special projects, education programs and events, we explore the question What does it mean to live on an Island?

This public artwork is made possible by the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th, a collaboration between Nanaimo Foundation, the Government of Canada, and extraordinary leaders from coast to coast to coast.

Source: Nanaimo Art Gallery