Craftsmen

Sedalia Fazio and Rita Jacobs Fazio

Sedalia Fazio and her mother, Rita Jacobs Fazio are both Mohawks of Kahnawake. Rita is 84 years old, and has been beading since she was a child, just like her daughter. Sedalia has also been dancing since the age of two. Today, even though her health prevents her from dancing, she continues to sing and conduct sweat lodge ceremonies for the benefit of the urban Aboriginal community of Montreal.

Rita FazioRita Fazio - Création

Allan Siliboy

Multidisciplinary artist Dr. Alan Syliboy is from Milbrooks, Nova Scotia. A prolific artist, his works can be found in important collections in Canada. First, by attending private lessons with Maliseet artist Shirley Bear, he developed as a painter and enrolled at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. The inspiring works of this artist reveal his deep attachment to nature in relation to his native culture. His creative use of the symbolism of Native American petroglyphs is characteristic of his work.  

Allan SiliboyAllan Siliboy

Space Naskapis

Thrusday ans Friday: 12:00 pm to 08:00 pm
Saturday: 03:00 pm to 08h00 pm

Sunday: 02:00 pm to 08:00 pm

Naskapi legends and stories of the past

Come listen to legends and stories of the past from Northern Quebec, through which you will discover Naskapi language, worldview, and ways of knowing.

Espace NaskapisEspace Naskapis

Labrador tea tasting

You are invited to come discover the healing properties of Labrador tea, a culturally-important plant for the Naskapi people.   

Thé du labrador Thé Labrador

Naskapi book sale

Here you will find a large collection of children’s story books in the Naskapi language. You will also be able to purchase book volumes containing stories and legends as told by John Peastitute, a late Naskapi Elder.

 

Air InuitThanks to Air Inuit for graciously offering free transport to the Naskapis.

Martin Loft

Martin LoftMartin Akwiranoron Loft was born and raised in Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory and has been a professional artist for over thirty years. He is a photographer, printmaker, and craftsperson and was a founding member of the Native Indian Inuit Photographers' Association (NIIPA, 1985-2000), an influential indigenous artists' organization that presented Visions, the first international Indigenous photography conference and touring exhibition. Martin has exhibited his photography, traditional crafts, and prints nationally and internationally at such venues as at the National Museum of the American Indian, Museum of Civilization, Royal Ontario Museum, Iroquois Indian Museum, Mashantucket Pequot Museum, McCord Museum, and the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic, which recently hosted the On the Paths of the Iroquois exhibition. In 2017, he participated in the Imago International Art Exhibition in Venice Italy. Martin worked in his home community of Kahnawake for 27 years in various capacities including as Public Programs Supervisor at the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, where he coordinated community outreach activities, including culture and history workshops, academic and arts conferences, art workshops, and visual arts exhibitions. Martin has a strong interest in Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) language, history and culture and is a graduate of the Ratiwennahnirats Mohawk Immersion program. Martin continues to promote art in the Indigenous community through artist’s talks, printmaking workshops, arts advocacy and community development in the arts.

Martin Akwiranoron Loft Artist’s Statement

Martin Loft - In Our Foot

My artistic background is rooted in photography, printmaking, and traditional crafts. I have worked in each medium and see them as equal forms of expression; each informing me of who I am as an Onkwehónwe artist. My journey, as a Kanien’keháka person and creative person, is to be cognizant of the influences of contemporary culture, media, and Indigenous history in my artistic practice. I strive to be a conduit for this flood of information and feed it into my personal artistic expression. Bits and pieces, fragments and clues can be found in our everyday conversations and incorporated into metaphoric symbolism -my own personal iconography. My goal is to weave this energy into my imagery as a way of satisfying my creative interests and to make a modern signpost …visual marker. I was here. This is what I saw.

 

Schedule

Dates: 
9 August to 12 August