I Dream Library x Arts Umbrella
CALL AND RESPOND
Conversations on Truth and Reconciliation
Photography | Picture Books | Graphic Novels | Novels | Exhibition Books |
Photography | Picture Books | Graphic Novels | Novels | Exhibition Books |
I Dream Library Multimedia Exhibit
September 30 - November 18, 2023 | Arts Umbrella
Reconciliation is an ongoing process, an intergenerational, intercultural commitment, a visible practice in education spaces, a daily effort toward building trust. There is risk and reward in the learning process. Here, the skateboard represents this balance, serving as a vehicle for truth telling, accessible art, freedom of movement, and grace on this journey.
Through art, photography, and text, CALL AND RESPOND connects visitors with Indigenous artists and storytellers, colonial history, and ways to be part of realizing the 94 Calls to Action put forward by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada in 2015. This exhibit features curated collections of stories on 2 floors, and is held together through the flight of 94 monarch butterflies, signifying the intergenerational journey toward reconciliation. Visitors are invited to learn together about the status of the TRC Calls to Action, and engage the learning prompts in each work, responding with their time, attention, and conversations on reconciliation as a daily practice.
CALL AND RESPOND is dedicated to our friendships and community of artists, authors, athletes, booksellers, schools, educators, galleries, businesses, and community organizations. Thank you for trusting our interdisciplinary approach to equity and justice.
Exhibit photography by Devan Francis, 2023
THIS IS A TRUE STORY
ACCESSIBLE HEIGHT GALLERY
THIS IS A TRUE STORY features photography and child friendly / accessible height gallery wall that connects visitors of all ages with the legacy of colonialism through a timeline that honours Indigenous culture, resistance, healing, and pride. The visual narrative features artworks on skateboard decks from Colonialism Skateboards, a company started by Anishinaabe / Cree artist Mike Langan to “educate the public on elements of our shared history and the culture of aboriginal peoples in Canada through our love for skateboarding” and includes the work of Métis artist, activist, and designer Christi Belcourt (apihtâwikosisâniskwêw / mânitow sâkahikanihk), Tlingit artist Tom Dickson Jr., photographer Taylor Ross-Robinson, actor, pro skater, speaker and community leader Joe Buffalo from Samson Cree Nation, and pro skater and community leader Rosie Archie from Tsq'escen' / Secwepemc Nation.
Click to learn the history:
PHOTOGRAPHY
Mathew Delorme-King | Cree-Métis Fishing Lake Treaty NO.6
JOURNEY TOGETHER
MULTIMEDIA
94 monarch butterflies signifying the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (TRC) 94 CALLS TO ACTION and our collective intergenerational journey toward reconciliation.
Learn about the status of the Calls to Action here:
Indigenous Watchdog
STAY IN TOUCH
LITERARY INSTALLATION
STAY IN TOUCH invites visitors to learn from Indigenous storytellers, and support Indigenous led organizations beyond The National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. In this library of photography, literature, and textile stories, learners of all ages connect with stories of truth, healing, and joy. We honour the relationships we’ve built with these changemakers through a shared commitment to social justice: Thank you Massy Books for your support and collaboration over the years. Thank you Norma Ibarra for your lens and the way you bring us all together. Thank you Nations Skate Youth and Takeover Skateboarding for creating accessible and healing spaces with us, and so many others. Thank you Rashelle for designing rugs that ground our library and make it fun for kids!
Love Aisha + Rakim, I Dream Library
PHOTOGRAPHY
NORMA IBARRA | YAQUI
Norma Ibarra is a Mexican multidisciplinary artist, content creator, community organizer, marketer and adventure seeker maneuvering boundlessly through photography, videography, and adventure sports. Of these, photography is an endless playground for her unique expression. Through her work, Norma shares the stories of change-makers around the globe. Her photos tell stories of diverse, proud community builders, simultaneously challenging and independently broadening the definition of “traditional media,” documenting a profound youth-driven lens around inclusion, representation, equity, resilience and belonging.
Click the images below to learn more.
TEXTILE
Designer, RASHELLE
“My work are from moments of nostalgia.”
Rashelle Campbell (she/her) is a Nehiyaw Iskwew multidisciplinary designer who values playfulness as a means of exemplifying a more diverse standard of beauty, which sings into her designs. She is currently residing on the beautiful prairie lands of Amiskwaciwâskahikan ᐊᒥᐢᑲᐧᒋᐋᐧᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ treaty 6 territory (Edmonton, Alberta, CANADA)
Rashelle Campbell | Flubber Party Rug
BOOKLIST
Curated to share the legacy of storytelling through generations of Indigenous writers and artists. Here you can find Haida artist Robert Davidson’s latest exhibition book Echoes of the Supernatural, and children’s stories he created together with his daughter, author and educator Sara Florence Davidson. You’ll find a book by legendary Métis author Maria Campbell written in 1978 dedicated to her young niece Nicola. 45 years later, Nicola’s award winning books are part of this library collection too. We’re honoured it with you.
Instructions:
Click on the purple links to find out more about the storytellers and the stories
Play the videos for multimedia introductions the story’s content and context
Indigenous storytellers nations are acknowledged after their name
Use Native-Land.ca to learn more about the storytellers’ nations, territories, and language
KiDLiT SELECTIONS
Picturebooks
Majagalee: The Language of the Seasons
Author Illustrator: Shawna Davis | Gitxsan - Nisga'a
Photographer: Toonasa Jordana Luggi | Dakelh - Wet'suwet'en
Shawna Davis invites the reader to explore each of the four seasons through her beautiful words and lush, unforgettable, beaded illustrations.
This is a story of nature, its importance to our lives, and why it must be cared for and respected.
Still This Love Goes On
Author: Buffy Sainte-Marie | Piapot Cree Nation
Illustrator: Julie Flett | Cree-Métis
Riel’s People: How the Métis Lived
Author: Maria Campbell | Métis
Illustrator: David MacLagan
Every Child Matters
Author: Phyllis Webstad | Northern Secwpemc, Stswecem'c Xgat'tem First Nation
Illustrator: Karlene Harvey | Tsilhqot’in and Syilx
Dancing with our Ancestors / Learning to Carve Argillite
Authors: Sarah Florence Davidson, Sgaan Jaadgu San Glans | Haida and robert Davidson, Guud sans glans | Haida
Illustrator: Janine Gibbons | Haida
Together We Drum, Our Hearts Beat As One
Author: Willie Poll | Métis
Illustrator: Chief Lady Bird | Chippewa - Potawatomi
My Powerful Hair
Author: Carole Lindstrom | Anishinaabe-Métis
Illustrator: Steph Littlebird | Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde member
Finding My Dance
Author: Ria Thundercloud | Sandia Pueblo and Ho-Chunk Nations
Illustrator: Kalila j. Fuller | Native American
Josie Dances
Author: Denise Lajimodiere | Ojibwe - Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa
Illustrator: Angela Erdrich
Little Wolf
Author: Teoni Spathelfer | Heiltsuk Nation
Illustrator: Natassia Davies | Coast Salish
Autumn Peltier, Water Warrior
Author: Carole Lindstrom | Anishinaabe/Metis
Illustrator: Bridget George, Nimkiinagwaagankwe | Anishinaabe
MiDDLE GRADE
Novels | Graphic Novels
Aggie & Mudgy
Author: Wendy Proverbs | Kaska Dena
A Stranger At Home
Authors: Margaret Pokiak-Fenton | Inuvialuit, Christy Jordan-Fenton
Carpe Fin
Author & Artist: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas | Haida
JAJ
Author & Artist: Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas | Haida
Kwändǖr
Artist + Author: Cole Pauls | Tahltan
YOUNG ADULT
Memoir
Spíləx̣m: A Weaving of Recovery, Resilience, and Resurgence
Nicola I. Campbell | Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx, and Métis
“.. Nicola I. Campbell deftly weaves rich poetry and vivid prose into a story basket of memories orating what it means to be an intergenerational survivor of Indian Residential Schools.
Similar to the “moccasin telegraph,” Spíləxm are the remembered stories, also “events or news” in the Nłeʔkepmx language. These stories were often shared over tea, in the quiet hours between Elders. Rooted within the British Columbia landscape, and with an almost tactile representation of being on the land and water, Spíləxm explores resilience, reconnection, and narrative memory through stories.” - Strong Nations
