A Seat at the Table

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Sara Wiens, “Agriculture,” 2019

oil on panel, (panel one of two)

Salmon Arm Art Gallery is pleased to present A Seat at the Table, an exhibition about food sovereignty, security and sustainability. The work of ten individual artists will be featured, as well as a large-scale installation created by local youth.

The exhibition opens Friday, June 7 at 7pm with refreshments and live music

Food issues are front of mind in this era of overpopulation, declining resources and industrial-style management of organic systems. Visual artists tackle some of these issues through their media to highlight the hidden elements of each complex problem. 2D artists Sara Wiens, David Wilson and Sarah Hope feature work about agriculture and biodiversity. Digital artist Maria Thomas presents work about de-colonizing the diet. Fibre artist Anne Long and digital animator Ava Wutke present work about forgotten knowledge about the role of food plants. Basket-makers Patricia Purdaby, Delores Purdaby and Gerry Thomas offer 3D work about familial berry-picking and other food harvesting stories. 

In a large-scale installation, several local youth have created a 3D story of the senescent stages of five traditional Secwepemc food plants, helping visitors understand the important role they play in the diet of local Indigenous people, and how to help those plants return and thrive in the region. Photographer Kristal Burgess presents a photo-story of the harvesting process.

During the exhibition, the Art Gallery will host two feasts in partnership with the Shuswap Food Action Society and the Neskonlith First Nation. Food: Undressed is on July 8, with room for 40 to try locally-sourced vegan and vegetarian dishes, and hear about the benefits of moving toward a local plant-based diet. Eating Our Culture is a Secwepemc feast on July 22, with room for 30 to taste some of the traditional food plants harvested in this region by Neskonlith harvesters and knowledge-keepers, and also featuring storytelling by Kenthen Thomas. Tickets for both feasts are $50 per person and available at the Art Gallery.

The Coffee Break and Artist Talk is on Thursday, July 18 from 2pm to 4pm, and will feature a tea-tasting with Crystal Morris, who is continuing Mary Thomas’ botanical work on medicinal tea preparation.

This exhibition is supported by the Shuswap Community Foundation and Community Resilience Through Arts and Culture. Ongoing support for the Art Gallery’s mandate is provided by the City of Salmon Arm, BC Arts Council and the Province of British Columbia through Direct Access.

.image attached: Sara Wiens, oil on panel, “Agriculture” (panel one of two)