Our new installation of The Water We Call Home is now open at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery Museum in Steveston, B.C. A soft opening took place in July 2023 with the Welcoming the Sun event at the museum. We will be holding an official opening event in October, 2023.
Between 2020-2022, an advisory circle of six Indigenous matriarchs gathered on Galiano Island to re-presence connections to fish, water, and family around the Salish Sea. This work was witnessed by an extended group of family, friends, and people living and working on Galiano and documented in video, sound, and photography.
This project has been brought across the water to Steveston (Summer 2023-25) to share these personal stories of loss, resistance, and reconnection, and the importance of holding onto those stories in the face of colonial fishing policies that continue to separate Indigenous peoples from fish and fishing.
The project and exhibition are the continuation of a lifetime of research by Coast Salish / Sahtu Dene artist Rosemary Georgeson and emerges from her decade-long collaboration with Dr. Jessica Hallenbeck. This work has led to the recovery of the identities of Rosemary Georgeson’s ancestral grandmothers and reconnection with their descendants.
Works in sound, video, and photography by Richard Wilson, Rosemary Georgeson, Kali Spitzer, and partners, along with archival photos and newsletters, honour the stories of connection through water, fish, and family.
This installation is curated by Rosemary Georgeson, Kate Hennessy, and Jessica Hallenbeck.
Collaborator and Advisory circle matriarch Christie Lee Charles views images in the installation. Photo by Kate Hennessy.
Installation view. Photo by Kate Hennessy
Installation view. Photo by Kate Hennessy
Installation view. Photo by Kate Hennessy
The first installation of this project took place in Summer 2022 at the Yellowhouse Art Centre on Galiano Island, B.C.
Re-presencing Indigenous women’s connections to fish, water, and family
around the Salish Sea |
The Making Culture Lab with Dr. Jessica Hallenbeck (SSHRC Postdoctoral Scholar), Rosemary Georgeson (Coast Salish/Sahtu Dene), Dr. Kate Hennessy and PhD Reese Muntean, and an amazing group of collaborators are proud to be curating and developing an exhibition and symposium at Galiano Island’s Yellowhouse Art Centre, opening July 2022.
View the project website here, where details about the upcoming symposium and exhibition opening will be shared. All photographs on this page are by Kali Spitzer, 2022.
The Exhibition: The Water We Call Home
“Over the past two years siyēye nii ‘u tthu sut’ku’luts | siyēye tun’i ‘utl sqwun’u, an advisory circle of six Indigenous matriarchs, have gathered on Galiano Island to re-presence connections to fish, water, and family around the Salish Sea. This work is being shared in an exhibition co-curated by Rosemary Georgeson, Kate Hennessy, and siyēye nii ‘u tthu sut’ku’luts | siyēye tun’i ‘utl sqwun’u at the Yellowhouse Art Centre on Galiano Island, BC. The exhibition features a series of films about these gatherings, and new works in photography, video, and sound by Kali Spitzer, Richard Wilson, and Rosemary Georgeson.
Photo by Kali Spitzer, 2022.
Siyēya Nee A Ta Sutkuluts
Christie Lee Charles | Eva Wilson | Fay Blaney | Karen Charlie | Rosemary Georgeson
with Kimi Haxton | the one that holds us
Three gatherings brought together siyēye nii ‘u tthu sut’ku’luts | siyēye tun’i ‘utl sqwun’u to share, to reconnect, to re-presence. This work was witnessed by an extended group of people including family, friends, and people living and working on Galiano Island.
Background
The exhibition is the continuation of a lifetime of research by Coast Salish / Sahtu Dene artist Rosemary Georgeson and emerges from her decade-long collaboration with Dr. Jessica Hallenbeck. This work has led to the recovery of the identities of Rosemary Georgeson’s ancestral grandmothers and reconnection with their descendants. This exhibition has been developed in collaboration with Dr. Kate Hennessy at Simon Fraser University and with the Yellowhouse Art Center.
Exhibition Team
Rosemary Georgeson | Kate Hennessy | Jessica Hallenbeck | Jeannine Georgeson | Richard Wilson | Reese Muntean | Roksan Parfitt | Janet Georgeson | Nilesh Patel | Humberto Corte
Supporters and Funders
Yellowhouse Art Centre | Access to Media Education Society | BC Arts Council | Canada Council for the Arts | Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council | First Peoples Cultural Council | Simon Fraser University Community Engaged Research Initiative | Simon Fraser University Aboriginal Reconciliation Council | Decolonizing Water
Special Thank Yous and Acknowledgements
Penelakut Elder Augie Sylvester : many Hych’kas for sharing stories and knowledge with us
Janice Wilson | Deblekha Guin | Laurene Stephanyk | Nova Weipert | Camille Georgeson Usher | Diane Craig | Stephen Stewart | Gulf Islands Film and Television School | Babes in the Woods | Chunche Topanga”