New Indigenous art installation pays tribute to old knowledge

Danielle Piper used a mix of new, gifted and repurposed materials to create a quilt of many colours – and contributors.

The Calgary Public Library's Indigenous artist-in-residence created a new installation, now on display at the Calgary Central Library, out of a collection of material gathered from 40 different people.

She held workshops with adults and children, teaching beading and stitching. She hopes the new installation will showcase how we can learn from each other, but also from the materials and processes themselves.

"I've been learning peyote stitch myself," Piper said, "so I decided I wanted to teach other people peyote stitch and put those kind of pieces of learning together.

"That's where the idea started. We all made little diamonds out of peyote stitch and then I sewed them all together into a collaborative quilt."

Piper, who has Cree, Metis and Chipewyan ancestry, recently received a BFA with distinction from the Alberta University of the Arts.

"As an artist, my foremost duty is to my ancestors and the work they did to survive and pass down the knowledge that we all need to move forward in a good way together," Piper said on the Calgary Public Library website.

The exhibit is on display near Luke's Café until May 31.