Gathering Place hosts art show 

It wasn’t the Gathering Place’s official grand opening, but the art show that took place there over the weekend was a fitting start for a building envisioned as a hub for Kanien’kehá:ka cultural values.

The February 15 event showcased the work of seven Dawson College students, two of whom are from Kanesatake, who participated in a series of workshops in the community led by Dan David. The project was called “What Keeps Us Going,” and the workshops took place at the KYOT youth centre.

“It was really rewarding,” said Taio Gélinas, one of the local youth who participated in the project. “It was also very creatively fulfilling. I’m super grateful for the opportunity.”

Gélinas, who is starring in the current season of Eaux Turbulentes on ICI Tou.tv, has acted in film and television since the age of 13.

The piece Gélinas created as part of the project, Headshot intersperses photographs of the artist with headshots of legendary actor Marlon Brando.

“I wanted to portray with this piece how being a victim/willing participant of the industry has really bastardized by own self-perception and how I’ve begun trying to emulate a testable, marketable ideal that’s just kind of negatively affected my psyche and my quality of life,” Gélinas said.

The other Kanehsata’kehró:non who took part in the project was Shayla Etienne, who said it was refreshing to take a collaborative approach to each other’s art projects at the sessions.

While the pieces were created individually, the artists helped each other brainstorm and bounced ideas off each other.

“I really connected with them,” Etienne said. Etienne’s piece, which depicts her standing with a bear over her, was all about identity and history, especially as she connects with her roots.

“The bear is about my clan and my culture,” she said. “The theme is ‘what keeps us going.’ My culture and reviving it is what keeps me going.”

The piece also has a political message.

“The trees are the Pines. It has bullet holes for the Oka Crisis. But also, the bullet holes are bleeding because of recent developments in the Pines, like weed shops. I don’t really agree with it and the fact they keep cutting more trees of what we fought to protect,” said Etienne.

“It’s more of an activism movement in my art. I want people to think about what they’re doing and how they don’t really care about cutting down trees to make more space for their own gain.”

It was gratifying to exhibit the work in Kanesatake, she said.

“I really wanted to show my art in a way that would be meaningful,” said Etienne.

The spirit of the project was multicultural, said Jody Freeman, the project coordinator for the workshops and senior editor of Montreal Serai, where David was artist-in-residence last year.

“I think the mandate of Montreal Serai has always been to create larger communities, to create new solidarities, to create exchanges of perspectives that aren’t necessarily valued in the mainstream media,” said Freeman.

She noted how important talking circles were to David’s approach, helping to build trust in the group.

These talking circles were led by Kanesatake elder John Cree, who sought to encourage the young artists.

“They’re unbelievable,” Cree said. “They’ve got different characters, different views, but they’re so connected.”

Not only was Cree involved in the project, but also in planning the Gathering Place.

“We needed to open this up, get some spirit in here,” said Cree, who added it was a good warming for the building.

“What our intent is for this community is to have a place where the kids can come and feel safe. When they have meetings here, people start swearing, shouting, threatening, everything. We don’t want that here. We want a calm area for our young people,” he said.

“I feel so good. Not for me though – for the kids.”

Mohawk Council of Kanesatake (MCK) chief Denise David, who secured a large grant from the federal government to put up the building, was also on hand.

“It’s overwhelming with joy to see the potential because this is one event which is multicultural, and it shows the artists, and two of them are from our community, and the words that are said in each one is giving me more inspiration,” said Denise.

She hopes the Gathering Place grows into a locus of language and culture, she said.

“They don’t share our history in our schools or the language so much in our schools. There’s a little bit, but not enough,” she said.

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Marcus Bankuti, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter