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Interrelated Histories, Landscapes
Inform Work in Scout's Honour
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Santa Fe, NM -
Inspired by the social, cultural and physical
landscape of the Canadian Shield, Scout’s Honour,
featuring the work of Michael Belmore (Anishnaabe)
and Frank Shebageget (Anishnaabe) will be
showcased at the Museum of Contemporary Native
Arts from October 10, 2009 until January 31,
2010. A number of special events are being
planned around the exhibition including an
artist talk with Shebagaget and Belmore on
Friday, October 9, 2009, 10:30 a.m. – 12 noon at the
Institute of American Indian Arts campus
auditorium (83 Avan Nu Po Road), a public
opening reception on Friday, October 9, from
5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m. at the Museum, and a
Museum Members' lunch with exhibit curator Ryan
Rice on November 7, 12 noon also at the Museum.
The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts is
located at 108 Cathedral Place in downtown Santa
Fe.
In August 2006, long time high school friends
Belmore and Shebageet reunited for an expedition
back home to the northern community of Upsala,
Ontario. The artists, both from the Anishnaabe
First Nation, came together to unravel truths
and explore their desire to honor their
interrelated histories and encounters in a place
integral to their nation, families and selves.
Belmore and Shebageget scouted their respective
places of origin: Lac Seul and Lac Des Mille
Lac, and found the one time familiar landscape
between Thunder Bay and Kenora a place that was,
for the most part, abandoned. Even though their
immediate families had moved away, this
landscape remained etched in their memories as
the place where they found sources of
inspiration, respect, dignity and integrity from
the land, water, tress and rocks.
In Scout’s Honour,
curator Ryan Rice (Mohawk) situates both
artists’ work within the tradition of First
Nations scouting alongside the values of the
contemporary Boy Scout movement. Rice is the new
Curator of Exhibitions and Programs at the
Museum of Contemporary Native Arts.
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As an installation
artist, Frank Shebageget’s work reflects his continued
interest in the social environment and physical
geography of the Canadian Shield and the aesthetic
qualities of everyday materials. Through the use of
repetition, he explores the tense relationships between
the production, consumption and the economics of beauty,
often by playing with the incongruity of mass production
and the singularity of the handcrafted object.
Shebageget is from northwestern Ontario, and currently
resides in Ottawa. He graduated with his A.O.C.A. from
the Ontario College of Art in 1996 and received his
Master of Fine Arts degree from the University of
Victoria in 2000. Solo exhibitions of his work include:
Quantification (Tribe Artist Run Centre, 2003) and Home
Made (Gallery 101, 2002). Shebageget has participated in
several group exhibitions such as RED EYE, (Art Gallery
of Calgary, 2007); Au fils de mes jours (In My
Lifetime), (Museum of Civilization, 2006-07; Musée
national des beaux-arts du Québec, 2005) and Kosmos
(Ottawa Art Gallery, 2006). His work can be found in the
collections of the Ottawa Art Gallery, the Canada
Council Art Bank, the National Aboriginal Achievement
Foundation and several private collections.
Belmore’s materials are the key to his work and bring
into account how nature is viewed as commodity. For
several years, his work has evolved around the use of
technology and how it has affected the human
relationship to the environment. He was born north of
Thunder Bay, Ontario. In 1994, he graduated with an
A.O.C.A. in Sculpture/Installation from the Ontario
College of Art. Belmore’s work has been included in
numerous exhibitions, including Vantage Point (Sacred
Circle Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, 2002); lichen (Toronto
Sculpture Garden, 1998); Staking Land Claims (Walter
Phillips Gallery, 1997) and First Nations Art (Woodland
Cultural Centre, 1992); Belmore has also participated in
several artist-run-centers and collectives across Canada
and created site-specific public art installations for
Thunder Bay Art Gallery, the University of Western
Ontario and the City of Peterborough. A member of the
Royal Canadian Academy of Arts, Belmore’s work is
represented in several permanent and private
collections.
For more information about this exhibit, please call
505.428.5922. For more information about the events
surrounding the exhibit, please call 505.428.5909.
About the Museum
Located in downtown Santa Fe, the Museum of Contemporary
Native Arts is a center of the Institute of American
Indian Arts. The Museum is dedicated to advancing the
discourse, knowledge and understanding of contemporary
Native arts. Founded in 1971, the Museum’s exhibitions,
publications and educational programs challenge
pre-conceived notions of contemporary art. The Museum of
Contemporary Native Arts is home to the largest
collection of contemporary Native art in the world. A
premier shopping destination, the Museum’s store offers
the finest selection of contemporary Native arts and
gifts from both emerging and established artists.
Museum hours are Monday – Saturday: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
and Sunday: noon to 5 p.m. Closed on Tuesdays from
November through May as well as major holidays. Adult
admission is $5; senior citizens (62 and over), students
with valid IDs and residents of NM: $2.50. Admission is
free for Native people, Museum members, youth under the
age of 16, and NM residents visiting on Sunday.
IAIA’s Mission
To empower creativity and leadership in Native arts and
cultures through higher education, lifelong learning and
outreach
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