Making Treaty 7: Finding Common Ground

×

Expand

Finding Common Ground Exhibition Invitation

This Project Space exhibition is a rotating presentation of works produced in response to the Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society’s Common Ground Dinner Series.

Based on the Making Treaty 7 methodology, this dinner series explored the theme of The Land through eight sub-themes: Energy, Agriculture, Education, Law, Culture, Borders, Safety and Security, and Medicine.

Seventy-five Indigenous and non-Indigenous influencers from the area attended three dinners, each a month apart, and were led through an interactive, experiential process where they participated in ceremony, witnessed vignettes, completed the blanket exercise, listened, shared, and wrote a haiku. Each table at the dinner was graced with an Elder and a local artist. Participants created a Statement of Hope in response to each theme and the invited artists created works to represent these statements. The artworks created range in media from jewellery to glass, ceramics to photography, poetry to painting, drawing to installation art.

Over the next twelve weeks, each of the works created in response to the Dinner Series will be displayed in the Project Space in rotating groupings. The artists involved are: Jill Allan, Derek Beaulieu, Tamara Lee-Anne Cardinal, Chris Cran, Amanda Fox, Micheline Maylor, Keegan Starlight, Andrew Tarrant, and George Webber.

Common Ground Statements of Hope

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Energy is to reconnect to an ancient story and rediscover a daily practice of gratitude and connection with the land. In doing this restore sustainable patterns and behaviours that reduce consumption and replenish the land.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Medicine is to value the power of community and ceremony for healing by sharing and working together to create a unified future in medicine.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Safety and Security is committing to the Seven Grandfather teachings of respect, honesty, truth, love, courage, wisdom, and humility.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Agriculture is establishing a personal symbiotic relationship by returning to practice traditional and historical methods of obtaining our food locally via ethical agriculture/hunting/fishing/gathering. We aspire to improve a sustainable, healthy, simple way of life through community gardens, cooking clubs, community food banks, and urban spin farmers.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Law is that the law respects the land.The word to the group encompassed humility, greater awareness of the importance of the land, the power of the land over humans, and optimism.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Borders is that there is an elimination of borders (and get back to humanity and see that we are all human beings).What connects us, our common humanity, our love for each other, for the land, and for the common future, permits us to eliminate the borders, the fences, the differences that only serve to divide us from each other and from Mother Earth.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Education is when education is balanced, with play, creativity and freedom, we are wisely aware and life is good.

Together, our shared hope for the future of the Land and Culture is to choose to find common ground, always.

Supported by Calgary Arts Development; works on loan from Making Treaty 7 Cultural Society.