National Indigenous Peoples Day Art Show
June 21st is National Indigenous Peoples Day, and we're marking it with a fundraiser and art show at the restaurant. Come by at any point on June 21st, and 100% of the profits from your meal will be donated to RAVEN Trust in support of the Heiltsuk First Nation. We'll be accepting donations after June 21st as well, so if you can't make it in this week, there will still be an opportunity to donate through the restaurant to this and several other worthy causes.
CODY LECOY
The art show for this event features Cody Lecoy, a local artist of Okanagan and Esquimalt ancestry. His work can currently be found all across our north wall, and the pieces are priced individually. Inquire at codyplecoy@gmail.com about prices. His piece "Trudeau's Promise" (pictured fourth above) is being sold under silent auction: starting bid is $100, proceeds go to the fundraiser.
From the artist: What interests me and what I wish to communicate through my artwork is the portrayal of energy as an elemental process. More specifically, the presence and role of humans as directors of energy use. This focus also allows for questioning and inquiry into the current relation between us, our environment and resource distribution. I feel compelled to make work in relation to fossil fuel expansion due to the unstable and inefficient nature of the industry. High waste by-products, disease and land destruction have shed light to the natural instability of the fossil fuel industry.
The role of the indigenous voice in this dialogue roots these issues to the lands in which these industries operate. The resurgence of traditional cultural values rooted in land based knowledge brings awareness to the connection between the health of the land and the vitality of culture. The continuation of land based practices honour ways of past traditions but also serve as a way to ensure continued well being. By allowing ourselves to be seen in relation to the collective well-being we can situate, question, and direct our future amidst the transformative forces in motion.
ART CARDS from RAVEN Trust
Available by donation:
$5 for 1
$20 for set of 6
You choose which RAVEN Campaign to support.
TANYA P. JOHNSON
Tanya has partnered with RAVEN Trust to make these pieces available by silent auction (must be present at the restaurant to bid). She has 6 pieces in total, and the bidding starts at $50. Bidding closes at noon on July 5th; all proceeds go to the fundraiser.
From the Artist: Tanya P Johnson is a visual artist based in the Slocan Valley, British Columbia and part time in Cape Town, South Africa. She was born in Nairobi, Kenya and grew up in Cape Town. She received her Honours Degree in Fine Art from Michaelis Art School at the University of Cape Town, majoring in painting. Her childhood was a curious dialogue between art and dance classes and the reality of apartheid and revolution. This marked her life and continues to inform her work.
Johnson has translated her visual language into various media including paper cutting, printmaking, collage, installation, design, painting in public spaces and collaboration with playwrights and choreographers. Her art practice examines edges, belonging, real history, thresholds, the unseen and relationship with land. She is interested in the supernatural, transformation, culture, language, cosmology and ancestors.
Fanny Aïshaa
Fanny Aïshaa is an artist that has partnered with RAVEN Trust to provide art for this event. She's sent a total of 7 distinct prints of her work that are available for a minimum donation of $30, with all proceeds going to the fundraiser. There are multiple copies of each print.
From the artist: Fanny "Aïshaa" is a nomadic artist with an unconditional love for colours, ecosystems, the magic found at the heart of communities and the diversity of the world. A self-taught artist, she has learned to draw and paint by observing nature, its mysteries and its symbols, and by coming in contact with different communities all across the Americas. She initiated herself to the art of painting by becoming involved in numerous community projects centred on street- and mural-art, catalyzing on transforming violence, issues into creative positive visions. The power of art in valorizing invisible histories, equality between human beings and the celebration of differences has left a deep mark on her and given birth to her voice as an artist. Her love of travels, her nomadic spirit, has guided her through different artistic universes in Brazil, Chile, Guatemala, Senegal, United States, as well as numerous Canadian and First Nations' communities. Each wall, painting or creation bearing the signature of Aïshaa, meaning "The one that lives", seeks to thank the powers of life, diversity, nature, our ancestors and the spiritual connection between generations, and the great history of the world. As important to her as the air she breathes, art is the driving force behind Aïshaa, always pushing her in her quest to explore different communities of the world, to learn and bring voices to intercultural knowledges and ways of life that honour Mother Earth and all living things.