Salish Weave in the Memorial University Art Collection

October 22 - January 10, 2020

"All of these print editions use and adapt traditional Coast Salish design fundamentals to dig deep into the rich soil of tradition as well as reaching high into the open sky of progress. By skillfully drawing inspiration from both the future and the past, these artists are able to "make it new," while still honoring the artistic history of their ancestors."      
             - Qwul'thilum (Dylan Thomas) Coast Salish artist, Lyackson First Nation  

Grenfell Art Gallery presents an exhibition of Coast Salish prints that are recent acquisitions into our collection. Generously donated to the Memorial University Art Collection by George and Christiane Smyth of Vancouver Island, these stunning prints are the work of eight internationally recognized Coast Salish artists. The Coast Salish Native peoples are indigenous to the lower mainland of Vancouver and southern tip of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, extending to northern Washington State. 

On the occasion of the exhibition of Salish Weave, the Grenfell Art Gallery hosted a symposium consisting of a panel, "placing Coast Salish and Mi'kmaq artists in conversation."

The three-day conference, took place January 10-12, 2020.

Involved in the symposium were Coast Salish artist and scholar Dylan Thomas, Mi'kmaw artists and scholars Emily Critch, Marcus Gosse, Jordan Bennett and Meagan Musseau, Innu artist Melissa Tremblett, as well as Professor Ingrid Mary Percy, Visual Arts program, Grenfell Campus, and Matthew Hills, Director, Grenfell Art Gallery.

Between 2014 and 2017, Memorial University's Art Collection received a donation of three box sets of Coast Salish serigraph prints from the Salish Weave Collection of George and Christiane Smyth (Victoria, B.C.). Box Set I, II & III, also in the collection of the National Gallery of Canada, include the work of internationally recognized Coast Salish artists and represent the ongoing work of the Salish Weave Collection to contribute to the revival of Coast Salish art.

The Coast Salish native peoples are Indigenous to the lower mainland of Vancouver and southern tip of Vancouver Island, B.C. They have a distinct formal tradition in art that European settlement obscured and, through the processes of systemic colonization, attempted to eradicate.

"Western Newfoundland is home to several Mi'kmaq and Innu artists recovering and reclaiming cultural and aesthetic traditions indigenous to Eastern Canada, Newfoundland, and Labrador, several of whom are alumnae of Memorial University and the Visual Arts Program, School of Fine Arts, Grenfell Campus, in various stages of their artistic career," said Matthew Hills.

In his essay exploring the critical context of the Salish Weave prints, keynote speaker and Coastal Salish artist Dylan Thomas notes "contemporary indigenous artists working in the realm of traditional art occupy an interesting space in the creative world by trying to simultaneously draw equal inspiration from the future and the past; like a cedar tree growing in the rain forest, parts of their spirit digs deeply into the rich and nutritious soil of their artistic heritage, which allows the rest of their spirit to grow and reach towards the infinite possibilities of the open sky. This blending of deep history with infinite possibility is epitomized by the current state of Coast Salish art."

Grenfell Art Gallery gratefully acknowledges the support of Grenfell Campus and Memorial University of Newfoundland