October 15, 2023 – 14:00 – 17:00
The L’nuk hieroglyphic written language of komqwejwi’kasikl comes from our shared connection to the land, to mother earth. This country also shares a dark legacy where children and our shared histories were buried. Communities at large are acknowledging it together as something we can no longer ignore. Emerging from a workshop during the Antigonite Art After Dark Festival – light messages were carved by the community, L’nuk and settlers combined to honour the survivors, the children missing and found in the mass unmarked graves. Together the community reflected on the shared history of the residential school system across Canada and on reconciliation as shared responsibility. By approaching each light box, exhibition visitors will light up the ceiling with community komqwejwi’kasikl messages of grief, sorrow, love and care. Each box acknowledges our shared responsibilities, our shared legacy and as a way to heal together as neighbours of this country and landscapes to which the komqwejwi’kasikl language comes from.
After the performance with local artists Renae Morriseau and Cease Wyse, artist Michelle Sylliboy will talk about her artwork with the audience.
About the Artist
Three time Award-winning author and interdisciplinary artist Michelle Sylliboy (Mi’kmaq/L’nu) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and raised on her traditional L’nuk territory in We’koqmaq, Cape Breton. Her published collection of photographs and L’nuk hieroglyphic poetry, Kiskajeyi—I Am Ready won the 2020 Indigenous Voices Award. In 2021, she received the Indigenous Artist Recognition Award from Arts Nova Scotia. In 2022, she was long-listed for the Sobey Art Award. As a PhD candidate in Simon Fraser University’s Philosophy of Education program, she focuses on the artistic promotion of her original written komqwej’wikasikl language. She is currently working on a new project bringing the arts to the seven districts.
Welalin aqq Nm’ultes
Michelle Sylliboy (L’nu) Mi’kmaq
Renae Morriseau is a Cree (nehiyaw iskwew ᓀᐦᐃᔭᐤ ᐃᐢᑫᐧᐤ) and Saulteaux woman (nahkawiskwêw ᓇᐦᑲᐃᐧᐢᑫᐧᐤ) from the Treaty 1 Territory. She’s been creating artistic works for most of her life and has journeyed across Turtle Island and internationally in film, television, theatre and music. She is honoured to have received cultural teachings within her family through social and ceremonial songs and stories. This is the reason she started M’Girl Music over 20 years ago. www.mgirlmusic.ca