Two photographers explore the ideas of aboriginal identity!
People of the Dancing Sky: The Iroquois Way and
Jeff Thomas: Portraits from the Dancing Grounds
November 25, 2005
KLEINBURG, November 25, 2005 – On the evening of December 8th the McMichael Canadian Art Collection will officially open two outstanding exhibitions: People of the Dancing Sky: The Iroquois Way and Jeff Thomas:Portraits from the Dancing Grounds. While both exhibitions share a common inspiration, the artists who created them come from vastly different cultures and provide two different perspectives on Canada’s First Nations peoples. The exhibitions will be on display at the McMichael from December 10th to March 19th, 2006.
In 1995, award-winning Toronto photographer Myron Zabol began a five-year project to record, through the eyes of his camera, the lives and traditions of the Haudenosaunee, the Six Nations Iroquois, at the end of the twentieth century. People of the Dancing Sky provides insight into the strength and pride of the Haudenosaunee showing how they draw upon past traditions as well as present opportunities to express their rich and proud culture.
This stunning photographic display, organized by the Woodland Cultural Centre in collaboration with the Canadian Museum of Contemporary Photography, depicts chiefs, faithkeepers, dancers, clan mothers, and others in the Haudenosaunee community. It shows the resilience of Iroquoian culture and the many ways in which it has changed over time. In the words of Myron Zabol, “one example is the ribbon shirt, which was first introduced during the turn-of-the-twentieth century Wild West shows in which many Iroquoian families and other Native people worked as a means to earn a living.” While the ribbon shirt is still worn today, Iroquoian dress is increasingly influenced by modern fashion trends, as illustrated in Zabol’s photographs.
Jeff Thomas:Portraits from the Dancing Grounds, is an exhibition created by the artist at the invitation of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. Here, Thomas, inspired by the photography of Edward Curtis, uses Curtis’s work as a stepping stone to describe, through his own work, what “Indian-ness” looks like today – Indians as real people and not as clichés or fantasies of Indian-ness.
Jeff Thomas was born on the Six Nations Reserve in southwestern Ontario. He is a self-taught photographer who currently lives and works in Ottawa; his work has been presented in many solo and group exhibitions throughout North America, including AlterNative, an exhibition curated by Lynn Hill for the McMichael Canadian Art Collection. His photographs were recently featured in the exhibition Positive Negative at Street Level Gallery in Glasgow, Scotland.
About the gallery
The McMichael Canadian Art Collection is an agency of the Government of Ontario and acknowledges the support of the Ministry of Culture. It is the foremost venue in the country showcasing the Group of Seven and their contemporaries. In addition to touring exhibitions, its permanent collection comprises more than 5,500 artworks, including paintings by the Group of Seven and their contemporaries, First Nations and Inuit artists.
For further information and/or jpgs:
Stephen Weir, Publicist
Gallery: (905) 893-1121 ext. 2529
Toronto Office: (416) 489-5868
Cell: (416) 801-3101
s1weir@aol.com or sweir5492@rogers.com
