Art

Indigenous art exhibit: Mother and daughter weave broken bonds

Published

2 years ago

November 5, 2022

Colourful trade blankets hang on the walls of a Montreal gallery as a striking symbol of beauty emerging from the pain of residential schools and the generations of trauma they inflicted.

They are the work of Ida Baptiste and Lara Kramer, a mother-daughter team behind the exhibit titled Ji zoongde’eyaang (To Have a Strong Heart) showing at MAI, a multi-media cultural space.

Baptiste is an Anishinaabe Oji-Cree artist and Ojibwa language teacher living in Rama, Ont. She was just four years old when she was taken to Brandon Indian Residential School in Manitoba.

She recalls crying as she arrived at the school and the fear she lived with for years.

“The boys who tried to run away were made to carry a hundred-pound bag of potatoes,” she says. “And the principal would stand there with a horse whip to use if one of them fell down. I remember seeing that, and the fear I had, thinking ‘Why am I here?'”

Those are memories she tried to suppress for years, but that she now shares with her daughter by her side.

The duo first teamed up during the pandemic, in 2021. Kramer, a performer, choreographer and multi-disciplinary artist, was asked to design two public billboards to be exhibited in downtown Montreal. The images feature Kramer cloaked in a trade blanket, the kind used in the fur trade. Through oral tradition, countless stories of their use as fabric of biological warfare to infect Indigenous people with small pox have emerged.

Kramer reached out to her mother for help designing two trade blankets and adorning them with jingles that symbolize healing.

“It was really these notions of healing, grounding ourselves in history and moving forward together that I wanted to explore,” says Kramer.

After that project was over, she realized there was much more to be done and came up with the idea of the exhibit. They dedicated hours to the project, working together with Kramer’s own children playing around them. In those moments, the two artists thought of the bonds residential school severed across generations.

“I didn’t grow up in a real family,” says Baptiste. “When I had my own children I was able to give them a foundation when they were little, but when they became adolescents I was fearful and scared, so I ran away from them not fully realizing the impact that would have on my family.”

One of their trade blankets now on display is in honour of Baptiste’s mother, Kramer’s grandmother. All of her 14 children were taken away, either during the Sixties Scoop or to residential school. Another blanket depicts what Baptiste calls her spiritual journey, with lines representing generations past, present and future.

But there is more than the blankets to this exhibit.

As Kramer looked (or “snooped,” as she put it) around her mother’s home, she uncovered a series of paintings Baptiste completed in the 1990s. She convinced her mother to include those in the project.

“I felt that this is the moment. Maybe 30 years ago, it wasn’t time, but in the current climate, and where she is on her journey, it is now time.”

The paintings depict children, left without a voice in their schools. One is of a child on a swing on a background filled with numbers.

“We all had numbers,” says Baptiste. “Mine was 64.”

Ji zoongde’eyaang is on until Nov. 19 at the MAI (Montreal, arts interculturels).

All embedded images show the exhibit at the MAI created by Ida Baptiste and Lara Kramer, and were provided to CTV News.

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Art

A misspelled memorial to the Brontë sisters gets its dots back at last

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2024

Anne Joseph

LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.

More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.

The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.

They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.

“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”

It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.

Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”

Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.

“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.

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Art

Calvin Lucyshyn: Vancouver Island Art Dealer Faces Fraud Charges After Police Seize Millions in Artwork

Published

2 weeks ago

September 13, 2024

Harry Miller

In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.

Alleged Fraud Scheme

Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.

Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.

Massive Seizure of Artworks

In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.

Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.

Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed

In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.

Court Proceedings Ongoing

The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.

Impact on the Local Art Community

The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.

For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.

As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.

While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.

Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.

As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.