Creation Stories: Turtle Island

May 16 – July 14, 2024
Opening: May 16, 5:30 – 8 p.m.
Creation Stories: Turtle Island: Joanna Katrena Cooper, Shoshannah Greene, Shelley Niro, Jobena Petonoquot, Percy Sacobie, Skawennati, Maura Tamez
Curators: Lori Beavis, Emma Hassencahl-Perley, Jake Kimble, Teresa Vander Meer-Chassé
The Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone (BACA), 7th edition
La Guilde
Tiohtià:ke / Mooniyang / Montréal, QC

The artists in this exhibition tell the story of Turtle Island, known in many Indigenous cultures as a synonym for “North America.” It is the name used in Anishinaabe oral storytelling that says the land was formed on the back of a turtle floating on top of the water covering our entire planet. Integral to the story is Sky Woman, a pregnant being who descends from the Sky World, giving birth to life as we know it. She lands on the back of the turtle and asks various water animals to fetch a bit of dirt from the bottom of the ocean to place on the back of the turtle, transforming the shell into this continent.

The artists featured in Turtle Island use beadwork, painting, video, and sculpture to expand on the Anishinabeg Creation Story and the beginnings of life on Earth. They breathe new life into history, exploring themes of origin and renewal. Sky Woman, the turtle, and water serve as potent symbols of vitality and connection to the natural world.