Emily Carr University celebrates National Indigenous History Month with Indigenous Art Market - Vancouver Sun

Vendors include Indigenous students, staff, faculty and local Indigenous practitioners.

Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECU) 2023 visual arts grad Nicole Johnston is one of the many artists that will be part of the Aboriginal Gathering Place at Emily Carr University’s first Indigenous Art Market June 8 10 at ECU. Photo: courtesy the artist / Aboriginal Gathering Place jpg

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Indigenous Art Market

When: June 8 to June 10, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Where: Emily Carr University

Tickets and info: free, ecuad.ca/events

In celebration of National Indigenous History Month the Aboriginal Gathering Place (AGP) at Emily Carr University (ECU) is launching its first Indigenous Art Market.

On June 8-10 (10 a.m.- 4 p.m.) the market will include more than a dozen artists and designers from the ECU community and local area. On sale at the three-day market will be items including clothing, jewelry, prints, paintings and other objects and artworks.

photo of connie watts — Connie Watts, the associate director, Aboriginal Programs at Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Photo by Perrin Grauer /jpg

“A lot of our students are returning to community from different kinds of displacement —Sixties Scoop, residential schools, foster care — so many different things that have taken them away from their culture,” said Connie Watts the associate director of Aboriginal Programs at ECU in a statement.

“The more opportunities we can create for them to celebrate their own culture — which for us is through creative practices — the more they can start to explore how to respectfully shift this colonial world to make space for their own Indigenous knowledge to thrive. This market is a playground to see what that can look like.”

Painter, printmaker, and designer Zoë Laycock says the market is an opportunity for Indigenous artists to deepen connections within their own creative communities.

“This kind of event provides a really good opportunity to see what everybody else is doing, and it builds community in a different way,” said Laycock, a participating artist who is also the interim coordinator of Aboriginal Programs with the AGP.

“We’re all from different nations and different areas. It’s always a real pleasure to see how everybody’s traditional or ancestral material practices are transformed into creative, contemporary art that’s new and fresh and unique.”

photo of Zoë Laycock — Emily Carr University of Art and Design (ECU) 2022 visual arts grad and interim Aboriginal Programs coordinator at ECU Zoë Laycock is seen her with her artwork. Photo by artist / Aboriginal Gathering Place /jpg

Joining Laycock on the list of artists involved are:

Randall Barnetson
Leila Berg
Cheryl’s Trading Post (Cheryl Morgan & James Gregory)
Leanne Inuarak-Dall
Nicole Johnston
Ashley Jones
Zoë Laycock
Maya Martin
Sydney Mercredi
Gerren Peters
Roan Reimer
Cochise Seitcham
Jessey Tustin
Christian Wayne
Nova Weipert
Ella White
Vance Wright

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