The exhibition was developed through the museum\u2019s Artist-in-Residence program, which gives artists an opportunity to engage with its collection and develop new work through that process.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_4629-1024x768.jpg\")
Carrie Allison, a multidisciplinary visual artist of n\u00eahi\u00fdaw and M\u00e9tis descent, stands beside the entrance to her exhibition, Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113, at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n
Allison\u2019s project draws on her family history and on beadwork in the museum\u2019s Indigenous Cultures collection from her family\u2019s home region in northwest Alberta.<\/p>\n
She says spending time with the collection was an important part of developing the exhibition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always loved museum spaces, but they aren\u2019t always accessible. This program made it accessible for me to spend time with, view and really visit with these pieces. And I think that that is the most valuable thing that you can give a community, give a person, give an artist as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of these pieces are made by our ancestors and our communities, and we can learn so much just by visiting with them. But obviously, sometimes that can be hard when you don\u2019t live in the area or you\u2019re not welcome into the space in a way that feels good.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_4611-1024x768.jpg\")
A view of part of the exhibition Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n
Allison says ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 brings together pieces from the Godet collection at the McCord as well as work from a new series she has been developing over the past few years.<\/p>\n
The project reinterprets older pieces while exploring kin relationships and the connections that shaped the beading style of northwest Alberta.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that with our material cultures, they\u2019ve always continued. And that\u2019s what I\u2019m hoping that people see is the continuation of beadwork and our material culture and stories,\u201d said Allison.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just really happy that I got to do this, and I\u2019m excited for everyone to see it,\u201d she added. <\/p>\n
Connecting traditions and land<\/p>\n
Celina Yellowbird, curatorial assistant for Indigenous Cultures at the McCord Stewart Museum, says Allison\u2019s connection to the land stood out during the selection process for the Artist-in-Residence program.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarrie\u2019s art really spoke out to us and this connection to the land was beautiful,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_4636-1024x768.jpg\")
A view of part of the exhibition Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n
Yellowbird says the project also created an opportunity to bring attention to the relationship between Indigenous traditions and the land.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so important that when we look at this collection, we bring out that kind of relationship between our traditions and the land.\u201d<\/p>\n
The exhibition brings together four new beadwork pieces by Allison and eight cultural belongings from the museum\u2019s Indigenous Cultures collection. <\/p>\n
Making space for families<\/p>\n
The exhibition also includes BEADZ 2.0, an interactive installation made up of 25 giant foam beads and presented alongside a video work projection.<\/p>\n
Children and families can handle the beads freely, using them to play, build or rest. The installation is intended to create a more inclusive space that encourages curiosity, movement and imagination.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that this space is intentionally intergenerational, so kids and older people are honoured and welcomed,\u201d said Allison.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_4641-1024x768.jpg\")
The foam bead installation and projection in Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n
Michael Patten, director general and president of the Biennale d\u2019art contemporain autochtone, says programs that give Indigenous artists access to museum collections can create opportunities for new work and ideas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s really important because they allow access for Indigenous artists to come and see the collection, to work with the museum and to kind of come up with their own ideas and work on things for the future. I think it\u2019s really important to share the culture with everyone.\u201d <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/IMG_4614-1024x768.jpg\")
A view of part of the exhibition Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews)<\/p>\n
For Allison, the title ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113 evokes following the tracks of the past while opening a path for future generations. The title also carries ideas of gathering, knowledge transmission and storytelling.<\/p>\n
Allison\u2019s practice combines old and contemporary technologies and explores land, continuity, growth and healing, while reflecting on her n\u00eahi\u00fdaw and M\u00e9tis inheritances.<\/p>\n
Yellowbird hopes visitors will also see Indigenous creativity and diversity through the exhibition.<\/p>\n
\u201cI really hope that people when they come in, they see Indigenous beauty and they see our multiple identities and the way that we\u2019re artists, we\u2019re artistic, there\u2019s beauty in our culture,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\tThe entrance to Carrie Allison: ask\u014dht\u0113skanohw\u0113, an exhibition by multidisciplinary visual artist Carrie Allison, at the McCord Stewart Museum in Montreal on Sept. 29, 2026. (CityNews) <\/p>\n
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