Wintercount, alkyd, paper, stone, 2015. Photo: Kevin Bertram.

Curated by Judy McNaughton and Tomas Jonsson.

Co-presented with Common Weal Community Arts.

This exhibition includes immersive, interactive new work by Indigenous interdisciplinary artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle created as elaborations on the songs she wrote in collaboration with incarcerated and detained populations in Saskatchewan’s correctional facilities.

Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Cree/Halfbreed; German/Polish) is a community engaged interdisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter with family ties to amiskwāciy-wāskahikan (Edmonton), Papaschase First Nation and Kikino Metis Settlement, AB. Her work investigates and articulates the dynamism of nēhiyawin (Cree worldview) in contemporary time-place incorporating audio, video, VR, olfactory, music and audience/user participation to create immersive environments towards ‘radical inclusion’. As a songwriter, L’Hirondelle’s focus is on sharing nēhiyawēwin (Cree language), Indigenous song-forms and personal narrative songwriting as methodologies toward survivance. Cheryl is a recipient of the 2021 of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art and is currently completing an interdisciplinary practice-based PhD with SMARTlab/UCD, in Ireland.

Artist ↑
Cheryl l’Hirondelle

Essay ↑

insert exhibition essay*

Images ↑

Photos by Don Hall

Installation view

Installation view

Wintercount: Can’t Break Us, 2015, Brain-tanned elk hide, pencils, post-it notes, rocks, sound shower speakers + audio.

Medicine Kitchen Table: The Beauty Within, 2019-23, VR music video, elk rawhide, cushion, Meta Quest visor /w audio.

Medicine Kitchen Table: The Beauty Within, detail, 2019-23, VR music video, elk rawhide, cushion, Meta Quest visor /w audio.

Medicine Kitchen Table: The Beauty Within, detail, 2019-23, VR music video, elk rawhide, cushion, Meta Quest visor /w audio.

Medicine Kitchen Table: The Beauty Within, detail, 2019-23, VR music video, elk rawhide, cushion, Meta Quest visor /w audio.

Mother Nature’s Powers: To All Our Nations, 2023, VR music video, Meta Quest visor /w audio, velvet cushion.

Mother Nature’s Powers: To All Our Nations, detail, 2023, VR music video, Meta Quest visor /w audio, velvet cushion.

Here I Am (Bless My Mouth), detail, 2013, multimedia installation, 10 Acer Tablets in holders with handheld telephone receivers and panorama.

Here I Am (Bless My Mouth), detail, 2013, multimedia installation, 10 Acer Tablets in holders with handheld telephone receivers and panorama.

Wintercount: Can’t Break Us, detail, 2015, Brain-tanned elk hide, pencils, post-it notes, rocks, sound shower speakers + audio.

Wintercount: Can’t Break Us, detail, 2015, Brain-tanned elk hide, pencils, post-it notes, rocks, sound shower speakers + audio.

Wintercount: Can’t Break Us, 2015, Brain-tanned elk hide, pencils, post-it notes, rocks, sound shower speakers + audio.

Here I Am (Bless My Mouth), 2013, multimedia installation, 10 Acer Tablets in holders with handheld telephone receivers and panorama.

Installation view

Installation view

Installation view

Mother Nature’s Powers: To All Our Nations, 2023, VR music video, Meta Quest visor /w audio, velvet cushion.

Media ↑

Songs from the Cells, Prairie Dog Magazine by Greg Beatty.