Make beads for CMHR

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This article was published 04/03/2014 (4430 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For her latest project, Winnipeg-based Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore is asking the public to give her a hand.

Commissioned by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR), Belmore is creating a massive ceramic blanket out of 10,000-plus clay beads, each hand-pressed by members of the community, and each marked with the imprint of its maker’s palm and fingers.

The finished piece, titled Trace, will be displayed on a 74-square-metre wall in CMHR’s Indigenous Perspectives Gallery when the museum opens in September.

Until March 30, Belmore is leading clay bead-making workshops at Neechi Commons (865 Main St.) on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

“This clay that we’re working with is coming from below the city of Winnipeg. It’s natural clay from the ground,” Belmore said.

“When I was coming up with the idea, I did a bit of research and found that they pulled 400,000 bits of artifacts out of the ground (during the excavation of the CMHR site), most of which was ceramic shards. They also unearthed about 200 fire pits, so taking this idea, the land, the human hand and fire, conceptually it made sense to make an artwork that was based on ceramics.”

Born in northwestern Ontario, Belmore, 53, attended the Ontario College of Art and Design in Toronto from 1984 to 1987. Belmore was Canada’s official representative at the 2005 Venice Biennale and last year she won a Governor General’s Award for Visual and Media Arts.

A multi-disciplinary artist, Belmore works in such mediums as sculpture, photography, video and performance art.

“I’m most interested in the idea and I figure out how best to articulate that idea,” Belmore said. “For Trace, I like this idea of keeping it very simple and very clear about the human relationship to the land itself.”

Belmore said it takes about five minutes to create a clay bead. Not only is it fast, it’s easy and, if you’re not afraid to get a little Red River gumbo on your hands, fun.

“People are welcome to bring their families and friends and make a social event out of (making beads),” Belmore said.

“At Neechi Commons there is a restaurant upstairs, you can have brunch or lunch, or you can take out coffee and come down here and make beads. It’s really aboutpeople hanging out together and having a conversation. It’s very casual.”

Carolyn Crisp, a member of Taoist Tai Chi in Winnipeg, took part in the bead-making at Neechi along with her fellow tai chi-practising friends.

“I thought it was something interesting for a group of us to do, just the fact that you can be a part of something hanging in the museum,” Crisp said.