‘On Becoming:’ The U of A Museum Collection’s newest exhibit

Not many people can say that their school has a museum on campus — let alone a museum of paleontology, classics, or even soil. The University of Alberta is unique in that it has over 30 museum collections across multiple departments. Each museum houses various objects, artworks, and specimens, led by an experienced curator. Curator Nadia Kurd explained that the U of A Museums Art Collection‘s newest exhibition, On Becoming, is the first since 2019.

On Becoming focuses on Indigenous voices and the nature of collecting Indigenous artwork. Kurd explained how the museum acquires the artwork either by donation, or by purchasing the artwork directly from the artist. The art in On Becoming has never been shown to the public before, Kurd said.

“[We’re] focusing on new voices, Indigenous artists, and also recognizing artists who have contributed to the art collection in the past. The collection comes down to wanting to represent people who haven’t been represented in the collection publicly,” Kurd added.

The exhibit has three parts to it — New Voices, Recognizing This Land, and Reconnections. Each one embodies the overall theme of the exhibit. New Voices focuses on the debut collection of works by artists such as Kablusiak and Jim Logan, among others. Recognizing This Land seeks to “rethink the acquisition strategy … and increase and diversify our holdings of Indigenous art,” according to Kurd. Lastly, Reconnections highlights artists whose works have been collected in the past, and examines long-term views on art and collection.

Additionally, the exhibit’s placards have writing in both English and Cree. Dorothy Thunder — an instructor in the faculty of Native Studies at the U of A — helped translate them. Of the many artists in the exhibit, Heather Shillinglaw and Liz Ingram detailed the meaning behind their featured pieces.

Heather Shillinglaw — ᐊᑲᑲᐧᐊᐧᑌᐟᐦ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ a-ka-kakwa-tikh
sakahikan – lake that does not freeze (Hastings Lake)

Shillinglaw is an artist from Cold Lake First Nations and a residential day-school survivor. When asked about her background as an artist, she explained that it starts “with a cup of tea.”

When she visits with her mom, they talk about their family’s history, which is where Shillinglaw draws inspiration from. The artwork featured in the exhibit — ᐊᑲᑲᐧᐊᐧᑌᐟᐦ ᓵᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ a-ka-kakwa-tikh sakahikan – lake that does not freeze (Hastings Lake) — is a landscape of a lake close to where she lived.

The artwork is composed of many striking materials — notably fabric, yarn, and thread. The red thread in the piece represents footpaths that women would have taken around the lake.

“[The footpaths] show a strength of the women before me and [that] they knew how to traverse across the land,” Shillinglaw explained.

She described how the lake was also close to where she attended a summer camp as a child. However, while the other children were inside singing “God-focused” choral songs, she would go outside instead.

“I rolled around in the tall grass and looked up at the sky. I remember the smell and hearing the sounds of the frogs and the swish of the grass. And that to me, when I was lying there in the grass, I felt like that was the true church.”

Along with the tactile elements of the piece, there is another remarkable component to it. In the center of the lake is stitched poetry from Marilyn Dumont — a U of A professor in the department of English and film studies. The poetry is from one of Dumont’s books, That Tongued Belonging.

“Working with [Dumont] was extraordinary, because I felt that it really bridged that relationship and the connection of the history of the land, [and] our maternal ancestors. That’s what I could leave the viewer with — a combination of her words [and] the visual element,” she said.

Overall, Shillinglaw’s artwork in the exhibit is a multi-media piece that is layered with stories and history. As she puts it, “it’s through stories that the art transports the person into that time and place.”

Liz Ingram — Acqua Toccare: To Care I

Ingram is a retired professor from the U of A who taught in the department of art and design. She described how her mother was a painter, yet even though Ingram wanted to pursue the fine arts, she was skeptical about being able to make a living. During her undergraduate degree she switched into the fine arts from sociology. She then went on to do a graduate degree at the U of A in the fine arts.

Ingram specializes in printmaking — the process of transferring images onto another surface. Specifically, in Acqua Toccare: To Care I, Ingram used digital collaging and drawing on a metal plate. It was all hand-printed.

“It’s quite a time-consuming process. What’s exciting about it for me was that you could bring different imagery from different sources and bring it together into one image.”

Specifically, Ingram’s printmaking explores environmental themes, with a focus on water. Acqua Tocacare: To Care I shows water droplets falling into a hand.

“It’s about gentle love and care for water, which is in a way standing in for our environmental issues and life,” she said.

She explained how her and her husband own a house in the foothills with no running water or electricity. She described how that particular environment is what influences her desire to work with water in her artwork.

“Most of my work stems from us watching the environment … [like] the lake, the creek, the lichen, the moss, and the trees.”

Due to Ingram’s interest in nature, the environment, and Indigenous knowledge, she explained how she “felt really excited to be part [of the exhibit].”

On Becoming is running at the U of A Museums Collection until January 25 and is located in the Telus International Centre.