Circling the Truth

When we arrived at the McLaren Art Gallery in Barrie and headed up the stairs we could hear the voice of an older woman speaking in another language over the sound system.  Reaching the open door of the gallery we saw a circle of chairs large enough to fill the big gallery space and most of them were occupied by people.  As we listened to the speaker I guessed that she was speaking Anishinaabemowin, the language of the Anishinaabe people. The soft sounds floated around me as I noticed the paintings I had come to see on the walls of the rectangular gallery.  This was the opening of Call to Action #83 in Barrie, ON.  I had been eagerly waiting to see this exhibition since I first heard about it over a year ago.

I wrote about this reconciliation project in an earlier blog post.  Basically, 8 Indigenous and 8 non-Indigenous Simcoe County artists came together in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s Call to Action #83 which called on the Canadian Council for the Arts to direct funds to artists who are working on reconciliation projects.  So far this collective of artists haven`t received this funding but they went aheads with the project anyway.  

The first non-Indigenous artist Xavier Fernandes created a woodcut that spoke of reconciliation.  Then he took this piece to the next artist Marilyn George who is Indigenous.  Back and forth the process went.  Each artist only saw the piece before him or her.  Once all the pieces were finished, the artists brought them together and shared their processes with one another.  Since that time, they have presented the work at schools and in galleries.

The artists of Call to Action #83

Here in Barrie, after the four elders who supported the project and the mayor of Barrie spoke, each artist talked about their piece or their process.  The people who had gathered, moved around during the presentations so that they could see each piece.  Some of the Indigenous artists sang and drummed.  The audience, no longer an audience but now participants, were invited to dance in a round dance inside the circle of the chairs.  Holding hands, we stepped with the drum beat moving in a circle, swinging our arms in circles as well.

The artists spoke of their own histories, their own stories and how this process had changed them.  Indigenous artists talked about how residential schools had affected their families and themselves.  One artist had been a child in the seventies scoop.  They spoke about recovering traditional knowledge and languages.   

Non-Indigenous artists spoke of the countries they or their families had come from to settle in Canada.  They spoke of how they had unknowingly been part of a system that took land and children away from Indigenous people who had been here for thousands of years.  And we all listened and danced and listened some more and danced again. 

The whole time, people moved in and out of the circle in a dynamic process that we all participated in.  This was not a formal talk with rows of chairs and one person speaking at the front where you saw one face and the backs of people`s heads.  In the circle, we all faced each other and the artists faced us and spoke their truth from their hearts. 

Reconciliation by Nathalie Bertin 

The third last painting entitled Reconciliation was of a beautiful strawberry, with gold seeds on a gold background by Nathalie Bertin.  The collective had square pins made from this Heart Berry painting that you could buy afterwards and I bought a few to share with people.  The artists had shared with us from their hearts and we had received that gift into ours.

I met people I knew and danced with people I have now met.  I spoke to Xavier, the first artist who I had met at the beginning of the process last year.  He told me that every time he speaks at one of these events, he says something different because after listening to the other artists, he gains new insights.  The process of going around the circle and listening as each speaks changes those who take part in it.  The act of speaking truth and listening to the truth of another without interrupting is healing and transformative.  

According to the catalogue, this project lays out a roadmap for 'awi-niigaani-mino-wiiji-inawendiwin' -- Going Forward Together in Harmony.  I cannot  imagine how anyone who was in that room with an open heart could have come out the same person.  The stories that were told are heartbreaking, the wounds intergenerational and the solutions seem come too slowly.  Non-Indigenous people are learning of and reconciling with the history that they are learning to accept as the truth.  But as we listen to the truth, and speak our truth with open minds and open hearts, and we do it together I believe we are moving forward together.  We don`t have a map and much has been lost but as one artist said, “We have to get this done.”