Saturday, August 26, 2017

A First Nations Imagination

The final portion of the MosaiCanada presentation is thematically titled A Journey Through The Imaginary Of The First Nations. These horticultural sculptures are firmly set in nature and spirit, and here is a first view of what we'll be looking at in detail tomorrow.


This is titled Wisakedjak And The Creation Of The World. It shows the Anishinabeg story of how the world came to be- the destruction of the old world of animals because of fighting amongst themselves, the salvation of a small group of animals by their creator Kichi Manito, and the task placed before them to retrieve a clump of dirt from below the flood waters covering the earth. A turtle succeeds in the task, and out of that, the world is renewed.


This one, called Born With The Sun, concerns itself with the First Nations idea of metamorphosis between human and animals. Artist Christine Wawanoloath masterminded this design, with animals in and around the canoe.


Mother Earth: The Legend Of Aataentsic is the largest of the horticultural sculptures at MosaiCanada, and we'll be looking at it more tomorrow, but here's an introduction. The idea of a Mother Earth is common among many old cultures, including First Nations peoples. She is the source of all life, and the design of this large sculpture features animals, life sized or larger, springing forth around her.

29 comments:

  1. Wow! Very impressive and time consuming task to keep them in shape.

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  2. ...these are amazing, William.

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  3. Amazing what they made with flowers, beautiful!

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  4. These sculptures are so organic, I think I could photograph them all day!
    Enjoy this lovely end-of-summer weather, William.

    Janis
    GDP

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  5. The amount of thought and work in these displays is mind-boggling!

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  6. @Linda: it is!

    @Sussi: wow indeed!

    @Nanci: it is a lot of work.

    @Tom: they are!

    @Marianne: the result is spectacular.

    @Marleen: definitely.

    @Janis: thanks!

    @Christine: indeed.

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  7. The sculptures are imaginary and extremely well done. the stories are basic to the culture. The Inuit spirits were represented with soapstone.

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  8. Wow, these are pretty amazing. The buffalo is superb.

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  9. The size and scope is truly amazing, a knockout, and free of objections to any history or themes that we hear about in other places, however, that could develop, but hope not.

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  10. i love the buffalo ... but the canoes are neat as well ... what amazing work! ( ;
    happy weekend.

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  11. Beautiful
    The buffalo appears to be real almost, and scary for sure.

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  12. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed seeing this series, William! Thank you!

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  13. Just brilliant William.
    This has been an amazing series, thank you.

    All the best Jan

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  14. @Red: this has turned out to have caught the imagination of many.

    @Sharon: I was pleased by how well this has turned out.

    @Julia: it's been quite an exhibition.

    @Beth: all of this is wonderful to see.

    @Maywyn: it's a big sculpture!

    @RedPat: it's been a pleasure to show.

    @Jan: thank you!

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  15. Mighty shaggy looking bison there. :-)

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  16. It is a total wonderland! Thanks for the pictures.

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  17. Very impressive and really wonderful. Loved the photos William.

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  18. Awesome displays. Lots of had work involved to make this exhibit a huge success. They deserve an award. Thanks William for showing it.

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  19. Thanks for sharing this inspiring art!!!

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  20. I just don't think we will mke it. We're down to injections avery 3 mos. at the hospital. Thank you for showing your photos!

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  21. These are wonderful! I would love to see them.

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  22. These are so gorgeous. I envy your having a chance to see all of this in person.

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  23. The creativity in these nature sculptures is simply amazing.

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  24. The duck is my favorite in this group.

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  25. Mother Earth Theme is amazing. I love last picture.

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  26. @Revrunner: very shaggy!

    @Mari: you're welcome!

    @Denise: I love showing them.

    @Bill: the work here has been wonderful.

    @Cloudia: you're welcome.

    @Jennifer: at least this way you get to see it.

    @Joan: I have been delighted by this every time I've been in to see it.

    @Kay: this year, Ottawa and Gatineau seem to have lucked out!

    @Molly Jo: indeed!

    @Norma: quite a duck!

    @Klara: me too.

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