Naadohbii: To Draw Water Exhibition and Virtual Symposium

×

Expand

Scott Brammer

Rebecca Belmore, "Body of Water," 2019

cast aluminum. Commissioned by the 16th Istanbul Biennial. Produced with support from the Canada Council for the Arts. Courtesy of the Artist. Photo: Courtesy of the Audain Art Museum by Scott Brammer.⁠

Naadohbii: To Draw Water  

Christi Belcourt • Onaman Collective (Christi Belcourt and Isaac Murdoch) • Rebecca Belmore • Kevin Brownlee • Lindsay Dobbin • Maria Hupfield • Marianne Nicolson • William Noah • Jessie Oonark • Elisa Jane (Leecee) Carmichael • Dr. Vicki Couzens • Nici Cumpston • Ishmael Marika • James Tylor • Regina Pilawuk Wilson • Israel Birch • Nikau Hindin • Jeremy Leatinu’u • Nova Paul • Rachael Rakena

Naadohbii (pronounced NAH-DOH-BEY) is from Anishinaabemowin language and translates as “to draw/seek water.” The name was gifted by Elder Dr. Mary Courchene. Featuring over 20 artists, including some newly commissioned pieces, Naadohbii: To Draw Water is tri-national, sharing interdisciplinary artwork from Turtle Island, Australia, and Aotearoa. This exhibition illustrates an axis of solidarity between Indigenous nations across the globe around environmental, political, and cultural traditions and interconnected relationships to water.

Women are traditional water carriers and givers of life. Indigenous peoples continue to be profoundly linked to water for physical and spiritual wellbeing; rivers, lakes, streams, and oceans have an impact on the health of global communities, and our relationship to the natural world. Water has become a pressing concern for the larger global community.

Naadohbii: To Draw Water considers the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples as well as the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada’s Calls to Action, recognizing the power of art in enacting change. This exhibition contributes dialogue towards water and our changing environment from an Indigenous perspective and with an international scope. Our world is profoundly linked to water in all forms for human and ecological survival. Water is sacred. Water is life.

Curated by: Jaimie Isaac, WAG Curator of Indigenous and Contemporary Art

With guest curators: Reuben Friend, Director, and Ioana Gordon-Smith, Curator, Pātaka Art + Museum, Wellington, New Zealand; and Kimberley Moulton, Senior Curator, South Eastern Aboriginal Collections, First Peoples Department, Melbourne Museum, Museums Victoria, Australia.

WAG-Qaumajuq to Host Naadohbii: To Draw Water Symposium

Events will take place virtually from February 3-5, 2022 

Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty No. 1 Territory, January 24, 2022: The Winnipeg Art Gallery (WAG)-Qaumajuq is pleased to announce that the Gallery will host a virtual symposium from February 3 to 5 in the closing week of the inaugural Winnipeg Indigenous Triennial. The Naadohbii: To Draw Water Symposium is a trinational effort featuring Indigenous artists from Canada, Aotearoa, and Australia in discussion about topics relating to water sovereignty and solidarity.

The symposium will feature performances, film screenings, artist panels, and keynote speakers from the three participating nations discussing environmental, political, and cultural traditions and interconnected relationships to water. 

The symposium programming is organized by Anishinaabe curator and artist Jaimie Isaac along with a team of contributors. The name Naadohbii was gifted to the exhibition by Elder Dr. Mary Courchene of Sagkeeng First Nation and member of WAG-Qaumajuq's Indigenous Advisory Circle. The exhibition Naadohbii: To Draw Water is presented by BMO Financial Group. Symposium programming is made possible with support from the Province of Manitoba and Decolonizing Lens.