Gidamaji’igoomin maamikawiseyang gidoodaanaaminaan
Our spirit awakens when we remember our past
May 6 – June 25, 2022
Opening Reception: June 3rd, 2022 | 7-9pm, no appointment needed
Opening Performance: June 3rd, 2022 | Under the tent at 8pm
Join us under the tent outside for bannock, tea, and conversation after viewing the exhibition in the centre for First Fridays on June 3rd, with a performance taking place at 8pm in the outdoor space.
Covid protocols: The C2 Centre will have a capacity limit and require masks in our indoor gallery space. Refreshments, beverages, and the performance will take place outdoors.
Working with local clay requires care, humility, and patience. Clay has the potential to be a teacher. – KC Adams
For more than two decades, Adams has been a student of clay. Her words remind us that crafted objects are, like the very materials they are made of, alive. Her work invites us to take a step away from the tendency to objectify or commodify craft and instead embrace our role as listeners and learners. What do ceramic vessels, rooted in earth and fire, have to say?
In Gidamaji’igoomin maamikawiseyang gidoodaanaaminaan, Adams brings together a unique hybrid of mediums, including ceramic vessels, to give water a voice — to, as curator Aimée Craft suggests, “recognize the agency of water.” From freshwater scarcity, contamination, and salination to rising sea-levels, drought, flooding, and extreme weather events — water is at the heart of the climate justice conversation. As beings who are more than half water ourselves, it’s at the heart of who we are. Adams’ work bids us listen and, having heard, become vessels that carry and share water’s story.
This exhibition was made possible through the generous support of the Manitoba Arts Council, Canada Council for the Arts, and Winnipeg Arts Council. Many thanks to Katrina Craig, MCC Programme Coordinator, for the care and attention you’ve brought to organizing this exhibition, and to Chelsey Thiessen, MCC Communications and Administration Coordinator, for your support with promotion. Thanks to Urbanink for your design work and to Indigenous Languages of Manitoba for the translation of all English text into Anishinaabowin. Our gratitude to curator Aimée Craft whose advocacy for water justice and intimate knowledge of Adams’ art practice have deepened this project. And thank you, most of all, to KC Adams for the generosity and trust you have extended in sharing your work and teachings with us.
-Tammy Sutherland, Director, Manitoba Craft Council
KC Adams Bio
I am Anishinaabe, Inninew and British, living in Winnipeg, and my name is flying overhead in circles eagle woman also known as KC Adams. I am a relational maker, a creator whose work connects to an Indigenous worldview, recognizing my role as an educator, activist, community member and mentor. I create work exploring technology and its relationship to my Indigenous identity and knowledge systems. My process is to start with an idea and use a medium that embodies my conceptual intent. I work in adornment, clay, drawing, installation, painting, photography, printmaking, public art, video and welding.
Aimée Craft Bio
Aimée Craft is an Associate Professor at the Faculty Law, University of Ottawa and an Indigenous (Anishinaabe-Métis) lawyer from Manitoba. She holds a University Research Chair Nibi miinawaa aki inaakonigewin: Indigenous governance in relationship with land and water. Craft is an internationally recognized leader in the area of Indigenous laws, treaties and water. She prioritizes Indigenous-lead and interdisciplinary research, including visual arts and film, co-leads a series of major research grants on Decolonizing Water Governance and works with many Indigenous nations and communities on Indigenous relationships with and responsibilities to nibi (water). Treaty Words, her critically acclaimed children’s book, explains treaty philosophy and relationships. She plays an active role in international collaborations relating to transformative memory in colonial contexts and relating to the reclamation of Indigenous birthing practices as expressions of territorial sovereignty.
Regular Gallery Hours: Wednesday-Saturday, Noon-4pm
Contacts:
MCC Programme Coordinator: Katrina Craig
204.615.3951
