Official Denial: The Art of the Apology

Official Denial is a creative response to the Apology by Stephen Harper to the First Nations, Metis and Inuit people of Canada, which occurred on June 11, 2008. The Apology was in regards to the Residential School system of Canada, which operated for nearly a century in Canada. During that time, an estimated 90,000 Aboriginal people went through the educational system that was created and put into law to take the “Savage” out of the Indian.

At any given moment, there are 90,000 Aboriginal children in the system, welfare, adoption and more, which could be interpreted as a direct result of this system. That is 90,000 children without parents, loved ones, family, culture, language and tradition, just like the Residential Schools.

This show, curated by Chris Bose, came about after he created films and new media installations about the Apology over the past 4 years. At this point, he felt he had developed a significant body of work dedicated to the Apology and Residential schools and needed to move on creatively as an artist and person. But he felt the need to see and hear from his peers what their thoughts were about this momentous incident, and thus the Official Denial show was spawned.

Acclaimed First Nations artists Adrian Stimson, Tania Willard, Bracken Hanuse Corlett and Cease Wyss will feature new media, paintings, carvings, clothing and film in the upcoming exhibition and will have a creative response to what it means and how it has affected them. We invite you to come meet the artists and view the exhibition for yourself.

Opening Reception: August 3, 2012, 7 – 9 pm