As the seasons change and winter settles in, I can’t help but think about the knowledge my grandmother shared with me. I wonder what other seasonal lessons were taught by other mothers and grandmothers.
Recently in conversation, I mentioned that soon it will be time to bring out my woolies and fur to refresh them for the season, and that maybe I would do some snow washing for my heavier wool blankets. I was met with blank looks of confusion. How many things do we do because we follow the cycle of things taught to us by those who came before?
Just as I listened to stories and lessons from the matriarchs of my family, I stop and muse how much I also listen to my surroundings in the winter. What lessons can I glean from her
Over the next few months of winter, I am going to do just that. What can be learned from the sound of snow underfoot? From the frost in the air, markings on the land by our animal kin? Even within urban centres, how can we listen and appreciate what is being shared with us? There are ways to articulate this if you don’t understand its raw form; now with more trendy verbiage than in generations past - Indigenous perspectives, land-based learning, Traditional knowledge - but how do you readers - relate to lived experiences?
Story, Sound, and Memory. Is this something that can be translated and shared?
Following the exploration of place defining and understanding, this series of work will be recordings of the natural landscape with footfalls and images of the natural world - sometimes in the juxtaposition of the urban scape.falls, and images of the natural world - sometimes in the juxtaposition of the urban scape.
About the Artist
Instagram: @bcherweniuk_art
Photo Courtesy of Lance Cardinal
Brittany Cherweniuk is a Métis fine craft artist and instructor, working in textile and fiber arts, endeavoring to create cultural connections and to tell multigenerational stories. She has built her career as an Arts Administrator working in museums, galleries, and non-profit organizations - focusing on curation, program development, youth leadership, traditional Indigenous arts, and sharing Indigenous authentic histories. She currently resides in amiskwaciy-wâskahikan (Beaver Hills House), commonly known as Edmonton, in Treaty No. 6 Territory.