MMF unveils sample of beadwork installation for heritage centre

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This article was published 14/10/2023 (734 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A larger-than-life beadwork installation that will one day wrap around a building at Portage and Main was partially unveiled at the Red River Métis Annual General Assembly on Saturday.

“It’s going to be one of the most fantastic buildings in the city,” said Manitoba Métis Federation president David Chartrand, addressing the crowd of thousands gathered at Assiniboia Downs for the annual meeting Saturday.

One (relatively) small square sample of what will eventually make up the 60- by 30-foot artwork towered over its artist creator, Jennine Krauchi, at the unveiling. For scale, one flower on the sample alone is about five feet in diameter and the unveiled piece was representative of only about five per cent of the finished product.

“It’s exciting,” said Krauchi, a world-renowned Winnipeg-based Métis beadwork artist, admiring her work for the first time publicly.

The finished piece is expected to be complete by 2026 and will hang outside the Red River Métis National Heritage Centre, located at 335 Main St. A rendering shows the work being mounted from an exterior street-facing ceiling and wrapping around the six front pillars.

The work — its size and prominent location — has significance.

The Métis beadworking tradition almost died out when it was banned in Canada decades ago, Krauchi said. Even 25 years ago, it was challenging to find even a handful of Métis people with beadworking knowledge. Krauchi has worked hard to ensure the tradition is celebrated, shared and passed down.

“It will never, ever die again,” she said.

“To see it front and centre at Portage and Main, that is absolutely amazing.”

Krauchi is no stranger to making oversized creations; she and her mother created a 26-foot tall beaded octopus bag, used to carry supplies to start fires, that hangs in the Canadian Museum for Human Rights.

But this project required some additional know-how and creativity.

For one, the “beads” are actually different coloured interconnected chains. Skilled staff from Number Ten Architectural Group took Krauchi’s beadwork design and expanded it to become a lightweight chain piece that can withstand the brutal winds Portage and Main is known for.

The piece itself holds celebrations of Métis culture mixed designs Krauchi pulled from the existing building. The pattern includes a traditional five-petal flower, red roots representing connection to earth, traditional prairie berries and pinecones and rosette found in the building’s existing architectural motif.

The project was funded by federal and provincial grants and funds from the Manitoba Métis Federation.

Chartrand believes the piece will become a tourist attraction in its own right.

“I think Winnipeg can be very proud,” he said. “This is what we’re going to promote to the world — you come here, you’re going to see this beauty.”

katrina.clarke@freepress.mb.ca

Red River Métis National Heritage Centre