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Contemporary Art Gallery

555 Nelson Street
Vancouver, Canada
Open from Tuesday to
Sunday 12 pm → 6 pm

Admission always free
ArchiveExhibition
26 May 23until3 Sep 23

Sesemiya

s7ulh waḵáy̓stn iy ta stamsh cht

Alvin Balkind Gallery

A carved stone wrapped with a rope displayed on a wooden surface.

Sesemiya, Stone Necklace, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.

For more than twenty years, Sesemiya (Tracy Williams) has been engaged with the revitalization of Coast Salish cultural practices. Through research, collaborative experimentation and consultation with Knowledge Keepers, Sesemiya’s work embodies her deep knowledge of Coast Salish lands. A fifth-generation cedar weaver, the objects she makes extend directly from her practice of gathering and preparing wild materials.

Sesemiya presents at the Contemporary Art Gallery s7ulh waḵáy̓stn iy ta stamsh cht (Our Weapons and Warriors), a new body of work that sees the artist engaging the theme of land defence. Employing materials such as cedar slats and roots, fishskin leather, animal bones, and synthetic human skin, the exhibition alludes to the figure of a Sḵwx̱wú7mesh warrior in traditional accoutrement, armed with tools for battle. While the tools Sesemiya has recreated are anachronistic in nature, the project of cultural revitalization they result from is vitally urgent. s7ulh waḵáy̓stn iy ta stamsh cht proposes traditional ways of living, knowing, and being with the land to themselves be acts of resistance to the ongoing colonial occupation of unsurrendered Sḵwx̱wú7mesh lands, in the artist’s words, “inspiring the future generations of stelmexw to tl’a7ashen ta nexwniẁ-chet (celebrate our teachings that make us who we are).”

Biography

Sesemiya (Tracy Williams) is a knowledge seeker, dreamer, water protector, land defender, lover, mother, auntie, weaver, and cultural practitioner. Her rich relationships with plants, animals, land, and water have taken her to the tops of mountains, the bottom of the ocean, fields of fireweed, and occasionally art galleries. Her work has appeared in exhibitions such as lineages and land bases, Vancouver Art Gallery (2020); Intangible: Memory and Innovation in Coast Salish Art, Bill Reid Gallery (2017); and N. Vancouver, The Polygon Gallery (2017). In 2021, a commissioned work of Sesemiya’s was included in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s presentation of Yoko Ono’s Water Event. Sesemiya is a proud member of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation.

clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior in a room with dark grey walls, with a white wall in the foreground with the artist's name and exhibition's title printed on it.
rear view of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, suspended in mid-air and arranged to look like an exploded view diagram. a hide war robe is most prominent; an antler and stone club is also visible from the side.
side view of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, suspended in mid-air and arranged to look like an exploded view diagram. coiled cedar rope, war whoop and a knife in a sheath are visible from the side.
frontal photo of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, most prominently a headpiece made of cedar boughs, cedar breastplate, war apron, sneakers made from tanned hide, and arm and leg covers made fishskin leather
a suspended envelope-shaped bag made of tanned leather suspended between the edges of a hide robe and cedar war apron and breastplate. the bag is fringed on its right and left edges and on the edge of the flap, and held closed by a small bone.
a cedar breastplate with owl feathers and talons hanging from its front face, tanned hide leather straps, and a bear tooth necklace and beaver spine necklace suspended in front of it
a pair of fishskin leather leg covers suspended behind the bottom of a cedar war apron. the knees of the leg covers feature a zig-zag patterned shape
a pair of converse all-star-style sneakers made from tanned hide, suspended several inches above a concrete floor. the sneakers' soles resemble moccasins.
the bottom half of a fishskin leather arm cover, arranged to look as if it's holding a wooden shaft. the hand of the arm cover bears a zig-zag patterned shape. fish scales are visible in the texture of arm cover throughout.

Documents

Program guidepdf2mbExhibition materialpdf275kbLarge print exhibition materialpdf206kb

Talks & Events

EventOpening ReceptionSummer 2023
25 May 23·7:00 PMuntil9:00 PM
EventIn ConversationGabrielle L’Hirondelle Hill, Dionne Lee & Sesemiya with Lorna Brown
27 May 23·12:00 PM
A stone with the outline of a handprint is displayed on a blue tarped surface.EventCuratorial Tourwith Godfre Leung
6 Jun 23·6:00 PM
Sesemiya in profile holding a woven basket.EventSléway̓Working with Cedar with Sesemiya (Open Studio)
24 Jun 23·1:00 PMuntil3:00 PM
Paper cutouts and a strawberry hang from thin metal wires.EventCuratorial Tourwith Matthew Hyland
11 Jul 23·6:00 PM
Latashkinem standing with a large hiking backpack on and walking skis. In the background are large white-capped mountains.EventSaturday SessionLatashkinem on Sesemiya
12 Aug 23·12:00 PM
A carved stone wrapped with a rope displayed on a wooden surface.
clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior in a room with dark grey walls, with a white wall in the foreground with the artist's name and exhibition's title printed on it.
rear view of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, suspended in mid-air and arranged to look like an exploded view diagram. a hide war robe is most prominent; an antler and stone club is also visible from the side.
side view of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, suspended in mid-air and arranged to look like an exploded view diagram. coiled cedar rope, war whoop and a knife in a sheath are visible from the side.
frontal photo of clothing, armour and weapons belonging to a Squamish warrior, most prominently a headpiece made of cedar boughs, cedar breastplate, war apron, sneakers made from tanned hide, and arm and leg covers made fishskin leather
a suspended envelope-shaped bag made of tanned leather suspended between the edges of a hide robe and cedar war apron and breastplate. the bag is fringed on its right and left edges and on the edge of the flap, and held closed by a small bone.
a cedar breastplate with owl feathers and talons hanging from its front face, tanned hide leather straps, and a bear tooth necklace and beaver spine necklace suspended in front of it
a pair of fishskin leather leg covers suspended behind the bottom of a cedar war apron. the knees of the leg covers feature a zig-zag patterned shape
a pair of converse all-star-style sneakers made from tanned hide, suspended several inches above a concrete floor. the sneakers' soles resemble moccasins.
the bottom half of a fishskin leather arm cover, arranged to look as if it's holding a wooden shaft. the hand of the arm cover bears a zig-zag patterned shape. fish scales are visible in the texture of arm cover throughout.