Reconciliation through Indigenous art is the theme at a Calgary mall
The exhibit features work from 17 Indigenous artists and is located in Southcentre Mall's Art Corner on the second floor.
Tapisa Kilabuk is one of the event organizers with the Calgary Alliance for the Common Good that's collaborating with Colouring it Forward Reconciliation Society for the six week long exhibit.
"Just having this kind of representation in Calgary is just so wonderful and so beautiful and so inclusive," said Kilabuk. "When I was here the other day helping with the orange shirts and I was overwhelmed with emotion because I've never seen anything like this before."
The federal government recently declared September 30th as National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. It's a day for Canadians to spread awareness and reflect on the tragedies experienced by Indigenous people as a result of the country's former residential school system.
Alexandra Velosa is the marketing manager at Southcentre Mall which is a big supporter of the arts community. The artwork for the exhibit is hung from the ceiling and on the back of each piece are recommendations about how everyone can take steps to help foster reconciliation.
"We all want to make a difference," said Velosa. "We just sometimes don't know how and this is what the art exhibit is giving us, it's giving us the information we need to take little actions to be part of the reconciliation."
The space has been open to the public since the start of September. Close to 11,000 people visit it daily.
"A big part of our role with Colour it Forward Reconciliation Society is reconciliation through the arts," said Kilabuk. "That gives people the space to come together, to learn more, to appreciate one another, to admire one another and really create those fundamental relationships in our community that will create a better community in the future."
WHITE BUFFALO MOON
Keevin Rider is one of the artists taking part in the exhibit. His piece is titled White Buffalo Moon. A buffalo on the left side of the painting represents the people, seven empty lodges represent death, loneliness, sorrow, mourning, grief, hurt, depression. A white buffalo on the right represents healing and looks towards the buffalo on the left letting him know that he is there to help heal the people.
Rider says he's a product of his parents attending residential schools.
"My dad was Stoney Nakoda, my mom was Blackfoot, Blood," said Rider. "They can speak their language fluently but they thought it would be better for us not to because of what residential (schools) taught them: it taught them not to speak their language, don't use your culture."
Now Rider is starting to learn his native languages at 57 years old. He says painting puts him in a good space and helps him heal. He's proud to be included in the exhibit and is hopeful that visitors will learn from the stories of the art and appreciate the work of the Indigenous artists featured.
The mall is still finalizing details of how it will host the first observance of National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30th to follow provincial health measures. The exhibit will be open until mid-October.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
Investigators have finally revealed the identity of an unknown victim nicknamed 'Midtown Jane Doe,' who was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City two decades ago.