[BCMA] Nanaimo Art Gallery | Marianne Nicolson Awi'nagwiskasu: Real Land

Tue Apr 11 12:23:47 PDT 2017

[image: Inline image 1]

Nanaimo Art Gallery

150 Commercial Street, Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5G6

www.nanaimoartgallery.ca, 250.754.1750 <(250)%20754-1750>

For immediate release:

**

Marianne Nicolson

*A**wi'nagwiskasu: Real Land*

Curated by Jesse Birch and Liz Park

April 21 - July 2, 2017
Join us for the opening reception, Thursday, April 20 at 7 pm

Nanaimo Art Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Marianne
Nicolson, a Victoria BC based artist of Scottish and Dzawada̱'enux̱w First
Nations descent. The Dzawad*a*'enu*x*w People are a member tribe of the
Kwakw*a*k*a*'wakw Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Nicolson's work
first came to prominence in 1998 when she scaled a cliff face near her
ancestral village Gwa'yi to paint a 11.5 meter high by 8.5 meter wide
pictographic crest symbol that shows the origin story of her people. This
was the first petrograph in the region in more than sixty years, and marks
the continued vitality of the Dzawad*a*'enu*x*w. Operating as a potent
expression of land rights and community connections, this work anchors the
exhibition *Awi'nagwiskasu: Real Land.*

This exhibition showcases Nicolson's creative scope through paintings,
light-installations, and video. Many of the works invite visitors to share
the artist's pressing concerns about the waters that surround and course
through land, and serve as a gauge for the health of coastal communities.
Rivers, inlets, harbours, and tides are points of reference throughout the
exhibition. *Awi'nagwiskasu: Real Land* was developed in dialogue with
Nanaimo, a harbour city, and hub of resource extraction and distribution on
Vancouver Island.

Nicolson will also create a new public artwork on the exterior of Nanaimo
Art Gallery that will be revealed at the end of the exhibition.

To highlight Nicolson's interrelated practices as a linguist,
anthropologist, and a visual artist, a new risograph print edition that
compiles titles of Nicolson's works from 1998-2016 in both English and
Kwak'wala will be produced on the occasion of the exhibition.

Image: Marianne Nicolson, cliff painting in progress, Kingcome Inlet, 1998
------------------------------

*Artist Talk with Marianne Nicolson*

*Saturday, April 22, 2:00 PM, Shaw Auditorium, Vancouver Island Conference
Centre <http://www.viconference.com/>, 101 Gordon St*

*Free*

Marianne Nicolson (‘Tayagila’ogwa) is an artist of Scottish and Dzawada̱’
enux̱w First Nations descent. The Dzwada̱’enux̱w People are a member tribe
of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Nations of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Her training
encompasses both traditional Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw forms and culture and Western
European based art practice. She has completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts from
Emily Carr University of Art and Design (1996), a Masters in Fine Arts
(1999), a Masters in Linguistics and Anthropology (2005) and a PhD in
Linguistics, Anthropology and Art History (2013) at the University of
Victoria. She has exhibited her artwork locally, nationally and
internationally as a painter, photographer and installation artist, has
written and published numerous essays and articles, and has participated in
multiple speaking engagements. Her practice engages with issues of
Aboriginal histories and politics arising from a passionate involvement in
cultural revitalization and sustainability.

Marianne Nicolson's new out door artwork for Nanaimo will be unveiled in
June and is made possible by the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th
<http://communityfoundations.ca/cfc150/>, a collaboration between Nanaimo
Foundation <http://www.nanaimofoundation.com/>, the Government of Canada
<https://www.canada.ca/en.html>, and extraordinary leaders from coast to
coast to coast.

*Exhibition related Adult Workshops*

**

*Explore + Create: Tour, Discussion, and Mixed Media Adventure*

Arlene Deptuck and Yvonne Vander Kooi team up to offer an exploration of
ideas around Reconciliation through conversation, reflection and art
making. Tour Marianne Nicolson’s exhibition in the Gallery and discuss how
her artwork explores intersections of language, culture and the land. Then,
in Art Lab, use a mixed media approach to create colourful and imaginative
artworks inspired by our personal experiences and informed by our group
discussion.

*Saturday, April, 29, 1:30 - 4:30pm*

*$40 Members | $45 *Non-members

*Exhibition related Children’s Saturday Studio and Art Camps*

**

*Saturday Studio - Art classes for kids!*

Art Lab offers two Saturday Studio sessions tailored to kids ages 5-7 and
8-12. Participants will connect with artists, experiment with materials,
learn new techniques, and have fun with art making.

*Saturday Studio April 22 - Pictograph Play*

In anticipation of the upcoming solo exhibition in the gallery of Marianne
Nicolson’s work, we will learn about one of her early large scale works. In
1998, she scaled a cliff face near her ancestral village Gwa’yi to paint a
huge pictographic crest symbol that shows the origin story of her people.
We will learn about the historical and modern uses of pictographs and then,
inspired by Marianne’s work, paint our own pictorial symbols on various
surfaces to represent our own stories and contemporary culture.

*Saturday Studio April 29 - Awi'nagwiskasu: Real Land *

We will tour the new solo exhibition in the gallery *Awi'nagwiskasu: Real
Land* by Marianne Nicolson, a Victoria BC based artist of Scottish and
Dzawada̱'enux̱w First Nations descent. Inspired by her concerns for our
waters and marine life, we will illustrate a series of colourful marine
life caricatures from starfish to sea crabs on Artist Trading Cards to
share and take home!

*Art Camp PD Day *

*Our Stories: Our Imagination*

Young artists will enjoy a tour of *Awi'nagwiskasu: Real Land*  by Marianne
Nicolson and participate in an exciting day of creative storytelling and
shadow puppetry to activate local indigenous stories and inspire stories of
our own. Drawing from rich cultural traditions we will design, create and
perform our own shadow puppet play! Space is limited! Register early!

*Friday, May 12*

*Ages 5 -12 9:30am – 12:30 pm*

*Supplies included*

*$20 | $35 for 2 siblings per 1/2 day*

*For more information on any of these programs please call 250.754.1750
<(250)%20754-1750>*

Chris Kuderle
Administrative Director
Nanaimo Art Gallery

150 Commercial Street
Nanaimo, BC, V9R 5G6
250.754.1750 <(250)%20754-1750>
nanaimoartgallery.com
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20170411/813a1634/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image.png
Type: image/png
Size: 13954 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20170411/813a1634/attachment-0001.png 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 02 Cliff Painting (1024x673).jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 465810 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20170411/813a1634/attachment-0003.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: IMG_9766_edited-1.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 8829660 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20170411/813a1634/attachment-0004.jpg 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: 16830786_1015641641912530_7231721312001275837_n.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 81585 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.vifa.ca/pipermail/bcma/attachments/20170411/813a1634/attachment-0005.jpg 