Five Treaty One-based Metis beading artists are showcasing their works alongside each other at Gallery 1C03 at the University of Winnipeg over the next several weeks in an exhibition called Beading Metis Resurgence. The exhibition, which features Jennine Krauchi, David Heinrichs, Vi Houssin, Claire Johnston and Brianna Oversby, shares a wide range of works ranging from pieces in frames to wearable works.
“They represent continuity and the exquisiteness that can be found in Metis beadwork,” says Cathy Mattes, associate professor in art history at the University of Winnipeg and one of the curators of Beading Metis Resurgence, adding that the artists were selected to reflect a multigenerational collective of beadworkers maintaining the artform’s vibrancy.
“We bead love and bead for the ancestors and dream the future all at the same time while also asserting presence on the land and providing commentary and speaking or beading through and to what’s happening around the world at the moment.”
For co-curator and gallery director Jennifer Gibson, gathering the artists together for conversations about their art was one of the highlights of putting Beading Metis Resurgence together over the course of a year and a half. “We were invited into Jennine’s home where they were all meeting together, got to introduce ourselves and they all introduced themselves to us and we got to learn a little bit more about their practices and what really drives their work,” she says, adding that get-togethers like this would sometimes lead to sharing meals together around the kitchen table. “It really was beautiful how generous they were with us to be able to spend time with us and we could get to know each other.”
The kitchen table has also made its way into Gallery 1C03 for the exhibition with the hopes that gallery visitors will feel invited to sit, visit, and learn more about beading from the reading resources that will sit on the table. Gibson says that it’s part of hers and Mattes’s plans to activate the space and the pieces so that the gallery becomes a space that people can engage with even more.
“A really special part of this exhibition is [that] we’re really grateful to be able to have some support in bringing the artists in residence, so to speak,” she says. “We’re activating the space through the kitchen table presence, but also, there’s a number of other events that will be happening over the course of the exhibition.”
Beading Metis Resurgence runs at Gallery 1C03 until April 17, with beading workshops and conversations with the artists being hosted on March 2, 15 and 23. More information on all events associated with the exhibition can be found at the gallery’s website.