GALLERY EXHIBITION OF NATIONALLY IMPORTANT INDIGENOUS VOICES

Art Gallery of Grande Prairie (AGGP) is proud to announce a new exhibition opening April 20, 2018, The Aunties are Listening.  Curated by Tanya Harnett, the exhibition includes some of the most important female Indigenous artists in the country.

Aunties are on the frontlines. They carry forward our complex history, the wisdom of survival and the fortitude to protect the future. The Aunties are Listening exhibition celebrates the resilience of women who have given way for change. The artists celebrated in this exhibition are Christi Belcourt, Rebecca Belmore, Joane Cardinal-Schubert, Rosalie Favell, Faye HeavyShield, Jane Ash Poitras, Lauren I. Wuttunee and those men that honour women: George Littlechild, Kimowan Metchewais and Isaac Murdoch.

“We’re so grateful and lucky to have had the opportunity to work with Tanya and to present this exhibition in our community”, says Executive Director of AGGP, Jeff Erbach.

Included in the exhibition is artwork from the former Alberta Indian Arts and Crafts Society collection now housed at the Department of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada – Indigenous Art Centre. This collection was rescued by the artists included in this show.

Curator Tanya Harnett is a member of the Carry-The-Kettle First Nations in Saskatchewan. She is an artist and an Associate Professor at the University of Alberta in a joint appointment with the Department of Art and Design and the Faculty of Native Studies. She has exhibited regionally, nationally and internationally. In 2015, Tanya was elected to the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and she was also awarded the Queen’s Jubilee Medal by the Lt. Governor General of Alberta.

The Aunties are Listening opening reception is Friday, April 20, 2018 from 7 – 9 pm. The event is free and open to the public. The exhibition is on view until May 30, 2018.