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<div style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
<strong>MEDIA RELEASE </strong></div>
<strong style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">For Immediate Release</strong><br style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;">
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<strong style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.8px;">March 8, 2016</strong><span style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px;"></span>
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<span style="font-size: 14px;"><em><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong><span style="line-height: 22.4px;">Artist </span>Re-contextualizes History Written by European Settlers Through a Contemporary Indigenous Lens.</strong></span></em></span><br>
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<strong>Who: Presented by Vernon Public Art Gallery<br>
What: Opening Reception: <em>Mniku</em> by Jordan Bennett</strong><br>
<strong>Where: The Vernon Public Art Gallery</strong><br>
<strong>When: Thursday March 17, 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.</strong><br>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">The Board of Directors and Executive Director, Dauna Kennedy Grant, invite you and a guest to the opening reception of <em>Mniku</em> by
Jordan Bennett at the Vernon Public Art Gallery. Enjoy an evening of music, contemporary art, locally crafted beer, wine, and appetizers.</span></span><br>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">"It is with great pleasure that the Vernon Public Art Gallery welcomes back Jordan Bennett for a solo exhibition which opens on March 17th. We gained
a glimpse into the contemporary format of this First Nations artist through a group exhibition that came through the VPAG titled<em> Decolonize Me</em>,</span></span> by<span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">the
Ottawa Art Gallery</span></span>. <span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;">A mix of mediums and sound <em>Mniku</em>, Bennett’s solo work, will provide us with an immersive experience while contemplating
the various issues around indigenous art practices which are presented within this exhibition."<br>
</span></span><br>
<span style="font-size: 12px;">-Dauna Kennedy Grant, Executive Director</span><br>
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<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Jordan Bennett is a contemporary artist of Mi’kmaq descent currently based in Kelowna, British Columbia. His artistic production includes performance, drawing, painting, carving, video, and new
media. His exhibition at the Vernon Public Art Gallery titled <em>Mniku</em> addresses a wide array of issues within contemporary indigenous discourses regarding history and indigenous artists’ practices both contemporary and historical. The exhibition consist
of paintings on carved yellow and red cedar and paintings on cradled panel surfaces, all accompanied by participatory sound installation. Additional suit of smaller paintings and drawings on paper document Bennett’s creative process and development of abstract
images leading to be executed in larger paintings.</span><br>
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<span style="font-size: 12px;">The addition of sound components in the exhibition amplifies the viewer’s experience and places him/her in the immersive environment and a time-based experience. The collection of over twenty particular sounds of various natural
phenomena recorded in different location include the sounds of water of the ocean, crackling of fire, sounds recorded with microphone placed on the ground and ice, or hung in the trees. Bennett also recorded ambient sounds on different locations, including
the hum of air conditioning while observing the drawings at The Rooms collections and archives. Sound is a time-based phenomenon and has a duration which the visitors traversing the gallery space experience. Bennett’s orchestration and placement of motion
sensors in the gallery space trigger different sound sequences according to the viewers’ navigation of the gallery space. These sound sequences create a combination of specific sound ‘narratives’ while viewing the visual components of the exhibition.</span><br>
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<span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;">Jordan Bennett’s exhibition titled <em>Mniku</em> re-contextualizes history written by European settlers in the past through a contemporary indigenous
lens.</span></span></div>
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</span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: arial, 'helvetica neue', helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"><span style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 22.5px; text-align: center;">Photo
credit: Jordan Bennett: </span><em style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 22.5px; text-align: center;">Hunt Guide In Red Cedar,</em><span style="color: rgb(96, 96, 96); font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 11px; line-height: 22.5px; text-align: center;"> 2015,
wood and acrylic, 12 x 12 x 2 in</span><br>
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