1,000 art pieces to be displayed in 10 exhibits, marking centre’s reopening after 3 years

CBC News: The Manitoba Indigenous Cultural Education Centre (MICEC) in Winnipeg is back open to the public after three years of the pandemic.  Not only is it back open, there are plans for 10 new exhibitions — and the first documents MICEC’s own history as a non-profit organization that provides education and understanding of Indigenous culture.

A member of the public, Westin Sutherland, 23, from Peguis First Nation about 160 kilometres north of Winnipeg, said it was exciting to have the centre back open again. “It’s nice to finally be around fellow people that appreciate our culture and our languages and I’m just happy that we’re all here together again,” Sutherland said. 

“We need somewhere where we can learn about our culture, our languages, our history.”

WATCH | Cultural education centre reopens:

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https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/manitoba-indigenous-cultural-education-centre-1.6803133

Danielle Mason, the collections and library assistant at MICEC, curated the current exhibition, Walking With Our History: MICEC through the years.

The 23-year-old from Fisher River Cree Nation and Peguis First Nation said despite being closed to the public through most of the past three years, MICEC kept busy with online services — like languages tables — to protect the most vulnerable populations. “We do work with a lot of elders, so we want to keep the space as safe for them as we possibly could and that meant keeping our doors closed longer than a lot of places,” she said.

Now that it’s back open to the public, MICEC plans to display the over 1,000 art pieces at the centre in a series of 10 exhibits over the next year. 

Although she’s primarily a textile artist, Mason said she’s proud of her work on the exhibition. “I think it’s a really nice illustration of not just the centre’s history, but sort of the history of Winnipeg and the history of Indigenous art.”

Mason said she hopes the collection inspires up-and-coming artists, draws more attention to the centre’s work and “warms the hearts” of the artists whose work is on display. 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Samantha Schwientek: Samantha Schwientek is a reporter with CBC Indigenous based in amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). She is a member of the Cayuga nation of the Six Nations of the Grand River, and previously worked at CBC Nova Scotia. 

With files from Kevin Nepitabo