Friday, June 13, 2008

Red Lake Woodland Arts Festival: A Tribute to Norval Morrisseau and the Woodland Artists in 21 DAYS!

July 4th-6th, 2008
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Honouring the Anishnaabe Art
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Sacred Thunderbird, © Norval Morrisseau
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“I started to establish myself…as an Indian artist. Pardon me, establish myself as an artist who happens to be Indian.”
Goyce Kakegamic, late 1970s
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Since the mid 1960s, when Woodland School art became widely accepted, contemporary Aboriginal artists have faced many challenges their non-Aboriginal counterparts have not. From lack of resources, to limited recognition and preconceived notions, they are constantly navigating between artistic practice and cultural expectations...
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... In North America, stereotypes have played a key role in the settlement of the west, as the staged photography of Edward Curtis, and postcards portraying a romantic, bountiful west enticed settlers. Hollywood Cowboy and Indian flicks and dime store novels contributed to the bounty, as interpretations of First Peoples as submissive, savage, mythical, and sexual objects entered North American popular culture. For contemporary artists, misconceptions about the Woodland School Arts movement also prove to be problematic.
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In Manitoba, the legacy left by the Professional Native Artists Inc, commonly known as the Woodland School Arts Movement is strong. The seven artists who belonged to the collective were Daphne Odjig, Jackson Beardy, Norval Morrisseau, Carl Ray, Joseph Sanchez, Eddy Cobiness, and Alex Janvier. They were successful in having their voices heard and talents acknowledged at a time when newly formed Aboriginal rights organizations, like the Manitoba Indian Brotherhood or Manitoba Metis Federation were receiving much needed attention.
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The group worked out of Daphne Odjig’s commercial gallery in Winnipeg from the mid-60s to the early 70s. They were collectively concerned with copyright issues, art markets, resources to other Aboriginal artists and the politics of the art world at the time. Their diverse contemporary art visually interpreted oral stories, post-contact history, and world views through painted imagery of stylized animals, spirits, and landscapes. It became recognized in Aboriginal communities as a vital expression of Aboriginality. As well, this movement caused excitement on the Canadian art scene, and a market developed, blazing trails for those who came after.
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Due to the wild imaginations of a non-Aboriginal audience, Woodland School artists were often romanticized to be the survivors or revivers of a great and noble past. Their work was treated as ethnographic objects and at times, Woodland School artists received more recognition from history museums than from contemporary art galleries. According to curator and writer Barry Ace, Norval Morriseau, who is considered the Grandfather of Woodland School Art, was involved in creating the mythic construction of himself as a contemporary primitive. He suggests that this construct “has not only served as a mask to shelter undesirable influences of modernity, but also as a strategic marketing ploy that was incredibly successful in stimulating a lucrative art buying public, by offering them a rare opportunity to own a fragmentary glimpse of a mythical past.” This does not suggest that Morrisseau was not genuine about following spiritual doctrine, but that he chose to self-define in a way that gained him access to galleries, agents, and buyers. He was both role model and role-player.
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Ideas about what contemporary art is within Aboriginal communities became concreted to Woodland style art. Curator Lee-Ann Martin asserts that art existed in Aboriginal communities historically, but it “was framed, integrated, and discussed in ways that differ greatly from Western categorizations. Contexts for art were, and are, those of the everyday and of the religious, of the celebratory and of the ceremonial.” Even though Woodland School art was, and is contemporary art, to many First Peoples, it is considered traditional art, because there are concepts that are inspired by spirituality and traditional cultural practice. This makes it emblematic of honouring the past, and affirming our presence. For artists who emerged later and whose work sways from this movement, their own communities often do not respond with as much enthusiasm, even if their work reflects their Aboriginality...
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... When Goyce Kakegamic asserted in the late 1970s that he was an “artist who happened to be Indian”, instead of an “Indian artist”, he was defying the box artists with Aboriginal ancestry were put into, and foreshadowing future struggles for artists to come. Kakegamic reacted to peoples’ romantic ideas of him as an artist, while trying to be recognized as a contemporary artist...
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... Their cultures impact their work whether it is about the loss of connection to nature, feelings of isolation, the impact of government policies, or stereotypes about Aboriginal art. Their work and experiences affirms that culture is inherent within us, and can be shaped in a variety of ways.
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Although responses to Woodland School Art has dictated to an extent how they are perceived, the strong legacy left by this movement, has given artists many opportunities they would otherwise not have had. As Joane Cardinal-Schubert asserts, “Aboriginal artists in this country, in particular, have been the first liners; their hard work and dedication and commitment have made a difference. They have carried the voices of the ancestors forward, acknowledging and demonstrating a cultural continuum, unknown to others, that is not ‘lost’.” Some struggles continue, but new ways to face them are constantly found, making the road ahead layered with new awareness, and privilege to create, and the freedom to be artists who happen to be Aboriginal.
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Cathy Mattes
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Source: excerpts from the "Five Contemporary Manitoba Artists, Who Happen to be Aboriginal" by Cathy Mattes /ConunDrum Online/
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For more information about the Red Lake Woodland Arts Festival go to: www.redlakemuseum.com.
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* Detailed information about the painting in this posting titled "Sacred Thunderbird" unknown, © c. 1970s Norval Morrisseau /Private Collection/
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2 comments:

A bird in the hand said...

Meegwetch!
Thank you for this wonderful tribute blog. I've linked you to mine.

13 June, 2008 11:31
Anonymous said...

Author Dr. Myles Monroe

Eagles fly alone at a high altitude and not with sparrows or mix with other smaller birds.

Birds of a feather flock together. No other bird goes to the height of the eagle. Eagles fly with eagles. Never in a flock. Even when Moses (Old Testament Bible) went to commune with God on the mountain, he left the crowd at the foothills. Stay away from sparrows and ravens. Eagles fly with eagles.

Eagles have strong vision, which focuses up to 5 kilometers from the air.

When an eagle sites prey- even a rodent from this distance, he narrows his focus on it and sets out to get it. No matter the obstacle, the eagle will not move his focus from the prey until he grabs it. Have a vision and remain focused no matter what the obstacle and you will succeed.

Eagles do not eat dead things.

They feed on fresh prey. Vultures eat dead animals but not eagles. Steer clear of outdated and old information. Do your research well always.

The Eagle is the only bird that loves the storm.

When clouds gather, the eagles get excited. The eagle uses the wings of the storm to rise and is pushed up higher. Once it finds the wing of the storm, the eagle stops flapping and uses the pressure of the raging storm to soar the clouds and glide. This gives the eagle an opportunity to rest its wings. In the meantime all the other birds hide in the leaves and branches of the trees. We can use the storms of our lives (obstacles, trouble, etc) to rise to greater heights. Achievers relish challenges and use them profitably.

The Eagle tests before it trusts.

When a female eagle meets a male and they want to mate, she flies down to earth with the male pursing her and she picks a twig. She flies back into the air with the male pursuing her.

Once she has reached a height high enough for her, she lets the twig fall to the ground and watches it as it falls. The male chases after the twig. The faster it falls, the faster he chases until he reaches it and has to catch it before it falls to the ground, then bring it back to the female eagle. The female eagle grabs the twig and flies to a much higher altitude pursued by the male until she perceives it high enough, and then drops the twig for the male to chase. This goes on for hours, with the height increasing until the female eagle is assured that the male eagle has mastered the art of picking the twig which shows commitment, then and only then, will she allow him to mate with her! Whether in private life or in business, one should test commitment of people intended for partnership.

Eagles prepare for training.

When about to lay eggs, the female and male eagle identify a place very high on a cliff where no predators can reach; the male flies to earth and picks thorns and lays them on the crevice of the cliff, then flies to earth again to collect twigs which he lays in the intended nest. He flies back to earth picks thorns and lays them on top of the twigs. He flies back to earth and picks soft grass to cover the thorns, and then flies back to pick rugs to put on the grass. When this first layering is complete the male eagle runs back to earth and picks more thorns, lays them on the nest; runs back to get grass and rugs and lays them on top of the thorns, then plucks his feathers to complete the nest. The thorns on the outside of the nest protect it from possible intruders. Both male and female eagles participate in raising the eagle family. She lays the eggs and protects them; he builds the nest and hunts. During the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest and because they are scared, they jump into the nest again.

Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns bare. When the scared eaglets jump into the nest again, they are pricked by thorns. Shrieking and bleeding they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them. Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air.

As they shriek in fear, father eagle flies out and picks them up on his back before they fall, and brings them back to the cliff. This goes on for sometime until they start flapping their wings. They get excited at this newfound knowledge that they can fly and not fall at such a fast rate.

The father and mother eagle supports them with their wings.

The preparation of the nest teaches us to prepare for changes;

The preparation for the family teaches us that active participation of both partners leads to success;

The being pricked by the thorns tells us that sometimes being too comfortable where we are may result into our not experiencing life, not progressing and not learning at all. The thorns of life come to teach us that we need to grow, get out of the nest and love on. We may not know it but the seemingly comfortable and safe haven may have thorns;

The people who love us do not let us languish in sloth but push us hard to grow and prosper. Even in their seemingly bad actions they have good intentions for us.

Eagles rejuvenate.

When the Eagle grows old, his feathers become weak and cannot take him as fast as he should. When he feels weak and about to die, he retires to a place far away in the rocks. While there, he plucks out every feather on his body until he is completely bare. He stays in this hiding place until he has grown new feathers, then he can come out. We occasionally need to shed off old habits & items that burden us without adding to our lives…

”As an eagle stirreth up her nest, fluttereth over her young, spreadeth abroad her wings, taketh them, beareth them on her wings:” -Deuteronomy 32:11

13 January, 2009 01:41

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