“The blanket is a universal symbol of protection. For many of us, it identifies who we are and where we’re from – we wear them in ceremony and give them as gifts. Blankets protect our young and comfort our elders.
Inspired by a woven blanket, we have created a large scale art installation, made out of hundreds of items reclaimed from Residential Schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures including Friendship Centres, band offices, treatment centres and universities, from across Canada. The Witness Blanket stands as a national monument to recognise the atrocities of the Indian Residential School era, honour the children, and symbolise ongoing reconciliation.
Inspiration for the Project:
Strewn in the wake of the Indian Residential Schools are an immeasurable number of broken or damaged pieces. These fragmented cultures, crumbling buildings, segments of language, and grains of diminished pride are often connected only by the common experience that created them. Imagine those pieces, symbolic and tangible, woven together in the form of a blanket. A blanket made from pieces of residential schools, churches, government buildings, and cultural structures.
A blanket where the story of each piece is as important to its construction as the wood and screws that hold it together.
A blanket with the sole purpose of standing in eternal witness to the effects of the Indian Residential School era – the system created and run by churches and the Canadian government to “take the Indian out of the child”. Left alone, these pieces may be forgotten, lost, buried, or worse – be uncomfortable reminders that leave painful impressions on the minds and hearts of those who recognize what they represent. Individually, they are paragraphs of a disappearing narrative. Together they are strong and formidable, collectively able to recount for future generations the true story of loss, strength, reconciliation and pride.
– Artist Carey Newman (Ha-yalth-kingeme)
Click here to read a speech by Carey Newman (Ha-yalth-kingeme)
If you’d like to get involved with the project, there are three ways:
1. SHARE – Spread the word about the project, or share your story with us.
2. CHAMPION – Help us bring the Witness Blanket to your community.
3. GIVE – Click here to financially support the Witness Blanket project.
We are currently in the planning stages for a National Tour of the Witness Blanket. Please click here to download our Call for Expressions of Interest for venues, communities, organizations etc. who would like to exhibit the Blanket. For any questions regarding the National Tour, please contact us by email info@witnessblanket.ca or phone 1-855-888-6998.”
Upcoming Tour Dates:
- Hamilton Public Library, Hamilton, ON:July 13 – August 29, 2015
- Nova Scotia: September, October, November 2015
- Canadian Museum for Human Rights, Winnipeg, MB: January – June 2016
- Peace River Museum, Peace River, AB: July and August, 2016
- Vancouver Island University, Nanaimo, BC: September, October and November, 2016
- New Westminster Museum and Archives, New Westminster, BC: December 2016 – April 2017
*** With tentative bookings throughout 2020
Visit http://witnessblanket.ca/ for more info.
Posted with permission from Carey Newman (Ha-yalth-kingeme)
