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One of the most prestigious art shows in the world is about to get a Manitoban touch.
The Canada Council for the Arts revealed its list of the 21 fellows that have been selected for La Biennale di Venezia, the annual art exhibition that see artists from around the world showcasing works in a variety of disciplines from their own countries. Of those 21 fellows, only one is from Manitoba – multimedia visual artist, beadmaker and relational maker Claire Johnston.
“I just cried,” Johnston shared in an interview on Morning Light when they found out they would be part of the prestigious festival. “I was hopeful, but i wasn’t expecting the outcome, so I was just overwhelmed.”
For Johnston, who is Metis with ties to St. Andrews and St. Clements, the chance to showcase her works is a chance to share the works of all her relations, including her family and women beadworkers from the mid-19th century. “I’m very inspired by the legacy here in this place,” she says.
While they are in Venice, Johnston will be participating in a variety of creative and learning opportunities, including touring guests through Canada House and participating in research. Johnston plans to draw on visits to museums and other cultural pavilions to inform more ambitious future creations.
“When I think about our material culture as it relates to beadwork, often, you know, pieces are quite small,” Johnston elaborates. “I just think it would be such a beautiful statement to have in large scale and also in places that are public and visible that acknowledgement of this place and what our contributions have been with my beadwork.”
Another part of Johnston’s excitement about going to Venice is the material connection she has with the region. “I love using the antique Venetian beads to bead with,” she shares. “Venice being the ones that invented these precious little glass seed beads, I wish to know what Venetian artisans at the peak of Metis beadwork here, what did they know about Metis women who were creating with their beads here.”
This constant interrogation of history and identity bears out in Johnston’s identity as a relational maker, a term used in Indigenous creative circles to capture the wholistic nature of inspiration and collaboration. “It’s sort of opposite to this Western idea of [how] as an artist, you’re just a single individual and that you somehow have an original idea that exists in a vacuum. I am the accumulation of the gifts my ancestors gave to me.”
Johnston hopes to continue to share that accumulation of gifts and inspirations with other artists back here on Treaty One Territory. “A lot of Indigenous artists, we don’t have people in our family that we can reach out to in terms of going to foreign art school or how to advance yourself as an artist,” they explain. “I’m hoping actually to be able to share some of those skills and the capacity-building for other artists.”
Johnston will be attending La Biennale di Venezia in November of this year in the festival’s final weeks.