A new multi-media exhibit featuring works by several artists is now on display at the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum’s Gallery No. 1.
Laying Claim, which is curated by Amber Christensen, features videos by Amalie Atkins, Evelyn Spice Cherry, Nida Home Doherty, Tasha Hubbard, Alexus Young, Jessica MacCormack and Brian Stockton.
Christensen, who is originally from Saskatchewan but now resides in Brandon, Manitoba, was at the EAGM for a reception on Friday night, and explained the different parts of the exhibit.
“The title … is supposed to evoke some thoughts around what it means to lay claim,” said Christensen. “When the homesteaders came after the Dominion Land Survey was created, the grid that we all knew (followed).”
The exhibit offers a variety of voices who offer their thoughts on what it means to push back against laying claim.
Hubbard, for example, has an experimental animation submission that looks at the decimation of the bison and buffalo.
Young and MacCormack offer a collaborative selection. Christensen noted Young is a two-spirited Métis who survived one of the Saskatoon Police Service’s “starlight tours,” in which indigenous people were dropped off at locations outside of the city. The experience is woven into the work.
Christensen described Atkins as a well-known Saskatchewan artist who studies familial bonds.
“During the times when people were being welcomed to settle on the land, bonds were strengthened at that time by adversity,” said Christensen.
Spice Cherry was one of Saskatchewan’s first filmmakers. Christensen said Spice Cherry looks at how people farmed one particular grain in the land. Stockton has a film that is on a loop that examines his relationship with the province. Home Doherty, meanwhile, talks about different homesteaders’ experiences in Saskatchewan.
“Her film is in here because she was one of the founders of a video art centre in Regina called Mutual Ground, and she was one of the people that got video and film off the ground … in Saskatchewan as an artistic practice,” said Christensen.
But there were also fun pieces that look at the life of a farmer.
“The show is mostly because I love where I am from and I love community,” said Christensen. “A lot of these artists, and I’m just so excited to bring them in this space to you.”
Laying Claim will remain at the EAGM until Sept. 1.
