Deepen your understanding of Mi’kmaw and Indigenous culture and explore the unique perspectives and experiences of Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island through personal stories, artifacts, and artwork at these local exhibits.
Ta’n me’j Tel-keknuo’ltiek: How Unique We Still Are
The Mi’kmaq have enduring connections to their ancestral lands and waters, here in Mi’kma’ki. Ta’n me’j Tel-keknuo’ltiek: How Unique We Still Are is a continuing exhibit that shares diverse individual experiences from Elders and knowledge keepers in the Mi’kmaw community.
Presented in Mi’kmaq, English, and French, significant themes highlight Mi’kmaw one-word concepts and Treaty Education. Community boatbuilding, archived and contemporary canoes, featured objects, images, and powerful, symbolic artwork convey cultural expressions that relate past, present, and future in this place.
Ta’n me’j Tel-keknuo’ltiek offers visitors, especially non-Indigenous Canadians, opportunities to learn about the truths that must precede reconciliation.
Fortress Halifax: A City Shaped by Conflict
Fortress Halifax is the newest exhibit at the Halifax Citadel National Historic Site, covering seven rooms and providing visitors with an overview of Halifax’s history in one place. The history of Halifax and its fortress is both rich and turbulent, and can’t be told by just one person. With paintings, maps, and stories from various perspectives like the British, French, Mi’kmaq, Black Loyalists, Acadians, and more, Fortress Halifax lets you explore the history of the city and the land it was built on.
Ta’n a’sikatikl sipu’l | Confluence
Ta’n a’sikatikl sipu’l | Confluence celebrates the power of water and its ability to connect us all. This exhibit delves into the themes of connection and exchange, featuring works by contemporary Mi’kmaq artists, including paintings, sculptures, and textiles, as well as historic artifacts from the gallery’s collection.
With seven guiding topics, including Awareness, Reflection, Sustainability & Treaty, Community, Memory & Remembering, Gathering & Knowledge, and Sharing, Ta’n a’sikatikl sipu’l | Confluence aims to build meaningful relationships between visitors and the artwork. Visitors will gain a deeper understanding of the many perspectives and experiences of generations of Indigenous artists.
Gallery Tour and Workshop
Also at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia is workshop for teams where they can learn basket making techniques through making their own wearable medallion. It has a double meaning when it comes to our medallion culture and a medal for having achieved something special. Sign up here (space is limited!)!
Availability: July 17, 2023 to Friday July 21, 2023
Daily at 10:00 am and 1:30 pm
Cost: FREE
Indigenous Ingenuity
May 5-September 3, 2023
Indigenous peoples from North America have long demonstrated a great sense of ingenuity, using nature as inspiration. The world we know today was in part fashioned by their innovations and approaches to science. This exhibition presents a clever and novel mix of science and culture intended to stir a sense of pride among First Nation, Inuit, and Métis communities.
Exhibit highlights:
- EXPLORE First Peoples’ scientific principles by testing the centre of gravity in a kayak and during a virtual canoe race.
- EXPERIENCE the wealth of Indigenous ingenuity by building an igloo and harpooning for fish.
- TRIGGER animations on interactive frescoes.
- DISCOVER the Indigenous peoples’ rich scientific knowledge, inspired by nature and the resources of the land.
Revealing Chignecto: The Stories Within
May 13 to July 23, 2023
In Revealing Chignecto, visitors can explore life in Chignecto’s shared Mi’kmaw and Acadian space up to the late 18th century through oral history, archaeology, and written records. Illustrated with beautiful original artworks by Réjean Roy, this exhibit invites visitors to handle high-quality reproductions of archaeological artifacts, listen to oral histories in Mi’kmaw with interpretive text and illustrations to guide them, and explore interactive maps that show changes in the region over time.
At the entrance of the exhibit, visitors can choose a historic Mi’kmaw or Acadian character with a direct link to the story, who will guide them as they explore the exhibit’s themes. Visitors find clues and statements from their character to help them build a narrative that encompasses the dramatic and tragic events of Chignecto, leading to the deportation of the Acadians and the displacement of the Mi’kmaw community.
This exhibit lifts the veil of obscured history and empowers the visitor to dig deeper, discover new truths, and question old narratives.
#HopeAndHealingCanada
June 6 to August 29, 2023
Since July 2021, Métis installation artist Tracey-Mae Chambers has created over 100 installations at residential school historical sites, museums, art galleries and other public spaces. Many of these spaces present a colonial viewpoint and primarily speak about the settlers who arrived and lived here, but not the Indigenous people that they displaced. The installations are constructed with red wool, silk, cotton yarn. #HopeAndHealingCanada aims to bridge the gap between settlers and First Nations, Métis, and Inuit by creating art that is approachable and non-confrontational and by starting a conversation about decolonization and reconciliation.
Tracey-Mae Chambers has created a unique site-specific intervention of #HopeAndHealingCanada in the Museum’s Canadian Immigration Hall.
