Moss means medicine and utility to me. Here is my moss bag. It holds an adult form. It belies the continued need for care throughout our lifetimes and does not stop after we grow out of our bag. More than ever we need compassion and to right our wrongs as if we were young children just learning. My commissioned painting by Collin Elder references the romanticism of Indigenous form and trivializes our connection to the natural world. The photographs of my skin with commissioned cartoons by Gord Hill is a direct response telling my real story. The performance uses photos of Tsimshian artifacts that were taken during the potlatch ban as redrawn commissioned drawings by Nathalee Paonelli. I reclaim and redraw my past, present and future. I answer appropriation with the appropriate. I reframe my helplessness. I share my moss, my medicine that can never die no matter what happens along the way. Join me.
Skeena Reece - Moss
Exhibition presented at OBORO from September 16 to October 21, 2017.
In partnership with Plug In ICA, Pop Montreal and Les journées de la culture
As part of OBORO’s 2017 programming : One year dedicated to Indigenous artists and thinkers.
Director, camera operator, editor : Mélanie O’Bomsawin
OBORO acknowledges that Tiohtià:ke, where its activities take place, is unceded Kanien’kehá:ka territory.