The Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq has committed to hosting a large-scale exhibition of international Indigenous art every three years, beginning next month.
Naadohbii: To Draw Water opens July 17 — provincial health orders permitting — and will include Indigenous art from North America, New Zealand and Australia.
The WAG said Monday the exhibition features more than 20 artists and will showcase connections and solidarity between Indigenous nations around the globe, in terms of environmental, political and cultural traditions, and interconnected relationships to water.
The exhibit will be curated by Jaimie Isaac, WAG-Qaumajuq’s curator of contemporary and Indigenous art, along with guest curators from museums in Australia and New Zealand.
The word “Naadohbii” in Anishinaabemowin translates as “to draw or seek water.”
“Water is a large body of knowledge and matter to draw upon and this exhibition will represent cross-cultural Indigenous multi-disciplinary artistic traditions and multi-vocal perspectives and multi-sensory experiences,” said Isaac.
“The international curatorial team and the artistic production presented will broaden ideas and deepen our connection to water. With the rising sea levels, changing waterways, addressing clean water accessibility to highlighting traditional cultural connections to water — exploring these concepts through contemporary art is appropriate to the current times we live within.”
Naadohbii: To Draw Water will run until February 2022.