From the Heart of Turtle Island: Contemporary Art From Manitoulin Island

WAGsignWIKWEMIKOONG, ON. (July 28, 2015) – An outstanding survey of contemporary art from artists living on or from Manitoulin Island will open at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre in Little Current on Friday August 7, 2015 at 10:00 o’clock. The exhibition is a collaborative curated project which received valuable assistance from the Wallace and Fielding Families; Fisher Wavy Inc.; Pioneer Construction; Ojibwe Cultural Foundation; Wiikwemkoong Art Gallery; Wikwemikong Development Commission; Wikwemikong Board of Education; and the Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives in Brampton, Ontario.

The exhibition’s curatorial team comprises Nikki Manitowabi, Mike Cywink, Mark Seabrook, Anne Benness and Tom Smart. It features the work of thirty artists, almost all of whom are still living and working.  Other artists who have recently passed are also included in the exhibition to show some of the stylistic and thematic roots of the contemporary art.

The exhibition comprises paintings, drawings, prints and other forms of art made by artists who currently live and work on Manitoulin Island, or were born on the island or on the mainland surrounding it.

The purpose of the exhibition is to show and interpret the range of artistic expression by these artists. The work deals with the land and people associated with Manitoulin Island. Other themes relate to recent history, and to the distant past, the time before contact was made with Europeans, and to the ancient time described in the creation legend.

The exhibition will be on view at the Manitoulin Hotel and Conference Centre from August 7 through August 17, 2015. It will then tour to venues in northern Ontario, and then to the Peel Art Gallery Museum and Archives in Brampton where it will be on view from January through April, 2016.

 

Contact

Nikki Manitowabi                                              Anne Benness

rnmanitowabi@wikydevcom.ca                       abenness@fisherwavy.com

705-859-3018                                                705-561-5865

 

Thomas Smart

Supervisor and Curator

Art Gallery & Education Services

Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA)

9 Wellington Street East

Brampton, Ontario L6W 1Y1

905-791-4055 ext. 3792

Thomas.Smart@peelregion.ca