June 20 - July 12 2008
Opening Reception: Friday, June 20th at 7PM
Presented by O'Kaadenigan Wiingashk, Public Energy and ARTSPACE as part of the Ode'min Giizis Festival
Off the Map is a series of paintings that explore Metis and Anishnaabe perspecives of land and water. The paintings meld together current day road maps with research into original native place names along with other motifs in an attempt to express an Aboriginal world view and try to show what cannot be found on today's maps. Other paintings within the series explore water as a sacred element and also as a vital link to the history of the Anishnaabeg, the Metis and later to Canada. Featured prominently within the paintings are various renditions of water that were crucial to the survival of the Anishnaabeg and the Metis. In all, the pieces provide a perspective of Ontario's history that is rarely acknowledged.