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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">For Immediate Release
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><b><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><i><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Illegal: Let Us Live</span></i></b><b><span style="font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> performance at Kelowna
Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Illegal: Let Us Live<o:p></o:p></span></i></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thursday, July 25, 2019, at 6 pm<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">July 22, 2019 – Kelowna, BC:</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> A performance by Vernon-based artist
Mariel Belanger of <i>Illegal: Let us Live</i> will be held at the Kelowna Art Gallery on Thursday, July 25, 2019, at 6 pm. The piece is written by Greg Younging.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Illegal: Let us Live</span></i><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> is a multimedia performance with audio,
visual, and performative elements that explores issues related to Indigenous laws about the land.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Describing the performance Belanger outlines, “As a historical embodiment, it challenges the colonial imposition, forced displacement, diaspora,
and the importance of telling our intergenerational truths and speaking out against genocidal practices and laws. In this performance the artist is the embodiment of Mother Earth, transitioning through the story, as she portrays the thematic tension within
‘belonging’ in contemporary Indigenous relationships to colonial patriarchy.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Mariel Belanger</span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"> is a Vernon-based artist from the northern part
of the syilx-Okanagan Nation who is dedicated to contributing in the growth of interdisciplinary performance arts as a method to engage Indigenous community, language, and culture. As artist scholar, her MFA from UBC Okanagan researched identity through the
lens of sqilxw ways of knowing and being, customary law, indigenous feminism, and performance theory.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">This performance is held in conjunction with the exhibition Her Body Will Remember, which features the work of artists Tsēmā Igharas, Tiffany
Shaw-Collinge, and Mariel Belanger. It is on view at the Kelowna Art Gallery until September 8, 2019.
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Refreshments and a reception will follow the performance. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP to
<a href="mailto:info@kelownartgallery.com">info@kelownartgallery.com</a> or 250-762-2226 as space is limited.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align:justify"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in downtown Kelowna. For more information about current exhibitions, public programming
or special events, please visit the Kelowna Art Gallery online at <a href="http://www.kelownaartgallery.com">
www.kelownaartgallery.com</a> or call 250-762-2226.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">- 30 –<o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Webpage:
<a href="https://kelownaartgallery.com/illegal-let-us-live/">https://kelownaartgallery.com/illegal-let-us-live/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Social media – Facebook:
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/332922477621520/">https://www.facebook.com/events/332922477621520/</a><o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Social media – Instagram:
<a href="https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery/">https://www.instagram.com/kelownaartgallery</a>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Media Inquiries<o:p></o:p></span></u></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Joshua Desnoyers | Marketing and Events Coordinator<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Kelowna Art Gallery<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">1315 Water Street | Kelowna, BC | V1Y 9R3<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">250-762-2226 ext. 305 | 250-762-9875 fax<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif"><a href="mailto:josh@kelownaartgallery.com">josh@kelownaartgallery.com</a> | kelownaartgallery.com
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