#indigenousartists

"SCOLDER DIVES FOR BERRIES"

by Carrielynn Victor

ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ - Edmonton’s Indigenous Art Park opens tomorrow - September 15. For the past several months, the YEGArts Blog has featured the inspirations and thoughts behind the six artworks by Mary Anne Barkhouse, Amy Malbeuf, Marianne Nicolson, Tiffany Shaw-Collinge, and Jerry Whitehead that will feature there.

This final profile features mikikwan, by Duane Linklater, who is Omaskêko Ininiwak from Moose Cree First Nation in Northern Ontario.

Edmonton Arts Council: Here is Duane Linklater’s description of mikikwan:

“I have selected an ancient hide scraper, or as we call it in the Cree language ‘mikikwan’ from the collection of the Royal Alberta Museum in Edmonton Alberta, [increased in size and… fabricated in concrete]. In keeping with a previously developed methodology in my current art practice, I have excavated the collection of the Royal Alberta Museum and have identified a single hide scraper from the many thousands of objects at the museum.

(original hide scraper, found at the Royal Alberta Museum ~ photo courtesy of the artist)

This object, which is made of a lower leg bone of a bison, is approximately 9000 years old and was excavated by anthropologists in Alberta. Hide scrapers have been used for thousands of years in many areas in North America, and for the most part its design has changed very little. I am interested in articulating a presence with this object, a history and an ongoing contemporary practice of labor by Indigenous people in the Edmonton area”.

Duane Linklater’s artistic practice involves “the exploration of the physical and theoretical structures of the museum in relation to the current and historical conditions of Indigenous people and their objects and forms”. His sculptures, photography, films and video, installations and text works articulate these explorations.

The original artifact that launched the mikikwan project was excavated by anthropologists in Southern Alberta. The practice of hide scraping has been practiced by Indigenous peoples throughout Canada and remains important to many today. The practice is an essential component in the process of making animal hides usable for clothing, architectural use, for drums and rattles, amongst many things.

To create mikikwan, Linklater photographed the original hide scraper and began to work with Carvel Creative in Calgary to realize this significant object for ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞.

The sculpture, cast in concrete, is many times larger than the original.

Linklater says, “It is these two decisions, which hopefully activate the hide scraper in new and unexplored ways from the position of the viewer. With an increased scale and a new material in cast concrete, mikikwan, deliberately aligned with the new Walterdale bridge, proposes this humble tool as a monument to the labor, practice and design of Indigenous people who still use this tool today”.

To read more about the concept and process behind mikikwan, visit Duane Linklater’s website mikikwan.com.

To experience mikikwan, please view this video by Conor McNally. Video - Conor McNally Sound - Dmitri Bandet Music - Matthew Cardinal Dolly Grip - Riley McNally

Special thanks: FAVA and Ryan Dupas

You are invited to attend the Grand Opening of ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞ this Saturday, September 15 from 12:00-4:00 pm. The event takes place rain, snow, or shine!

The formal program begins at noon with comments from Wilton Littlechild, Grand Chief of the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations, Audrey Poitras, President, Métis Nation of Alberta, Mayor Don Iveson, Sanjay Shahani, Edmonton Arts Council. Candice Hopkins, Curator of ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞, and Christine Frederick on behalf of the Steering Committee, among others.

The afternoon features an artistic fusion, programmed by Dreamspeakers, that showcases the scope, diversity, and vibrancy of Indigenous arts in Edmonton; an Artisans’ Market, and food trucks. You can also meet some of the artists behind ᐄᓃᐤ (ÎNÎW) River Lot 11∞. Click here for more details.