Manuel Axel Strain, xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł ((((Remember your teachings))))

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Manuel Axel Strain, "xʷəlməxʷ child," 2025, installation detail, Polygon Gallery (photo by Akeem Nermo)

Manuel Axel Strain celebrates the Coast Salish longhouse in their Richmond Art Gallery debut

Richmond Art Gallery presents a solo exhibition by Manuel Axel Strain, xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł ((((Remember your teachings)))), from Sept. 13–Nov. 9, 2025. The artist — of Musqueam, Simpcw, and Syilx descent — celebrates the cedar longhouse as an important architectural form and philosophical framework that reflects the collectivist and relational values of their ancestors and communities.

“Richmond Art Gallery first worked with Manuel Axel Strain for a public artwork featured in the Capture Photography Festival in 2020, and we are thrilled to continue supporting this talented artist,” says curator Zoë Chan. “The Musqueam shed-style longhouse is at the heart of their new exhibition. It is not only an important architectural structure, but also an important spiritual, philosophical, and cultural framework profoundly embedded with the collectivist, relational values of their family members and larger community. The artist also invites viewers to critically consider what dominant structures are being upheld in mainstream Canadian society, whether in terms of architecture or ideology.”

xʷən̓iwən ce:p kʷθəθ nəw̓eyəł ((((Remember your teachings)))) will feature new and recent works, including paintings, video, and sculpture. The central longhouse installation pays tribute to a style of home central to the collective life of the Musqueam people and used as a gathering place for culturally significant events, such as marriages and potlatches. The red cedar plank-built edifices are designed to be flexible and modular in order to accommodate multiple and extended families. Before their attempted erasure by colonial powers, longhouses were once found all along the coast.

Strain is a 2-Spirit artist from the lands and waters of the xʷməθkʷəyəm (Musqueam), Simpcw and Syilx peoples, based in the sacred region of their q̓ic̓əy̓(Katzie) and qʼʷa:n̓ƛʼən̓ (Kwantlen) relatives. Strain’s mother is Tracey Strain and father is Eric Strain, Tracey’s parents are Harold Eustache (from Chuchua) and Marie Louis (from nk̓maplqs), Eric’s Parents are Helen Point (from xʷməθkʷəy̓əm) and John Strain (from Ireland). Although they attended Emily Carr University of Art + Design, they prioritize Indigenous epistemologies through the embodied knowledge of their mother, father, siblings, cousins, aunties, uncles, nieces, nephews, grandparents and ancestors. They have contributed work to the Vancouver Art Gallery, Surrey Art Gallery, the UBCO FINA Gallery, were longlisted for the 2022 Sobey Award, and were a recipient of the 2022 Portfolio Prize.