The Ahkwayaonhkeh artist center will host the exhibition from May 10 to June 16 Tho ihchien’ ha’yeht hewetha’ de ändichia’ – I am walking towards you grandmother. Ni motan kimeskanamik kokom – I follow in your footsteps, grandmother.
Anne Ardouin and Eruoma Awashish will each present a series of works, in dialogue, inspired by the figure of the grandmother and the notion of transmission. Brought together for the first time in a professional context, the two artists have known each other for more than 30 years.
In 1994, Anne Ardouin went to Opitciwan for the first time. She was invited there to produce a documentary on teenagers in the community. It was at this time that she met Eruoma who was only 13 years old at the time.
“I have seen her evolve over the years and now she is an artist who shines,” explains Anne.
When the Ahkwayaonhkeh Artist Center approached her about putting on an exhibition and offered to invite another artist, she immediately thought of Eruoma. The two artists are delighted to be able to share this experience together.
“Anne is like a big sister, it’s fun to collaborate together as colleagues,” says Eruoma, now based in Pekuakami (Lac-Saint-Jean) near her workplace in Mashteuiatsh.
Two universes coming together
The title of the exhibition is presented in two parts. I’m walking towards you grandmother bears witness to Anne Ardouin’s approach. Not having known her paternal grandmother, she tries to restore this break in transmission and reconnect with part of her identity. Through a series of nine drawings representing landscapes, the artist explores the structures of the territory.
“I really like to be in silence, to collect myself, to look into the distance. When I come home it’s in my memory. The gesture is coming back,” she explains.
The drawings are made from memory and are the result of spontaneous gestures. A short text accompanies the works. Visitors will also be able to observe the corn dolls made by the artist to “honor the paths of his ancestors and those of the women who walk across the rivers to the oceans”.
I follow in your footsteps, grandmother
The second part of the exhibition title, I follow in your footsteps, grandmother, describes the vision of Eruoma Awashish. Having grown up with her grandmother, the artist draws her inspiration from the relationship she had with her. In the lessons she was able to learn from her ancestor.
“Transmission occurs differently among indigenous peoples. It’s a lot through observation and through silences that we suddenly remember and absorb things,” explains Eruoma.
Several years after the death of his grandmother, the artist continues to learn from her. “Some lessons come back and resurface and I understand new things,” she confides.
The works presented by the artist are built around several symbols linked to his grandmother. She explains that she was inspired by a scarf that belonged to her and which was digitized. She then cut out flowers to make a sort of crown, a halo. A Catholic symbol that Eruoma reappropriates through her artistic practice.
“In indigenous culture, the sacred is accessible to everyone and is present in all the small gestures of everyday life […] which become spiritual and sacred gestures to honor the life of living beings who allow us to survive. That’s why I put halos everywhere: on plants, animals…”
Photo credit: Courtesy of the artist.
By appropriating this Catholic symbol, Eruoma transforms it and associates it with the symbol of the circle which represents the interconnection and interdependence of things and living beings. She gives the sacred a universal dimension which breaks in some way with the idea of the Catholic sacred which she perceives as addressing an elite.
An opening reception will take place on May 10 from 5 p.m. to launch the exhibition. Both artists will be present to discuss their work.
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