Arts and Culture

Powerful and moving monument to residential school survivors

New installation shares belongings and stories from 77 communities

  • The Witness Blanket by Carey Newman
  • True-to-size replica of the original piece
  • Free for the public to see

A new 40-foot-long installation has arrived at the Kelowna Art Gallery that weaves healing and history about residential schools.

The Witness Blanket, a replica of the original, is an unforgettable work by artist and master carver Carey Newman (Hayalthkin’geme). It acts as a national monument bearing witness to the truths of residential school survivors.

“His father lived in residential school from seven to 19 years of age, and so there was some reconciliation he was interested in,” Nataley Nagy, executive director at the Kelowna Art Gallery told Kelowna10 in front of the extraordinary piece.

For the first time, a travelling reproduction is available for the public to experience for free. The replica is true-to-scale, and consists of photographic images of the actual belongings that make up the original piece, which is under restoration at the Canadian Museum of Human Rights in Winnipeg.

It’s a powerful installation that shows the personal connections of residential schools, and it serves as a way to reconcile and reflect on the atrocities that occurred all over the country.

“We hope [the community] will gain knowledge, but also just spend some time with the piece,” Nagy said.

The original Witness Blanket is crafted from cedar that contains over 800 pieces of residential school history reclaimed from over 77 different communities. The items were donated by survivors and their families, band offices, friendship centres, and other cultural organizations. Those responsible for the residential school system — churches and the federal government — have also donated pieces.

Nagy said the artist Carey Newman, travelled more than 200,000 kilometers over the course of 12 months with his team from 2013 - 2014 to gather the objects.

He spoke with thousands of survivors and a documentary was created about the experience.

“When you see how similar the pieces and the stories are from sea to sea to sea, then you start to see that it really was a really big thing and that there's a lot of connections out there,” Carey Newman said in a media release.

“There were ones that were more difficult to think of and to reconcile inside your mind, but all of them told part of the story.”

Visitors will be able to get up close to view each of the faithfully documented items in the photographic panels.

When viewing the installation, visitors are encouraged to walk around and look closely at the individual items that make up the intricate blanket. An iPad will be available with an interactive app that tells the stories of the belongings and shows where they’re from. A website is also available.

“You can make out the objects and some of them are as personal as a hairbrush,” Nagy explained.

“You get a sense of what residential school meant to different people throughout the country… [it’s] an opportunity to learn and take a moment and bear witness.”

Some other elements included are a child's shoe, braids of hair, a letter from parents asking that their children come home, and more. Each item tells a story of loss, strength, resilience, and pride.

The Witness Blanket is on display at the Kelowna Art Gallery, from Jan. 15 to April 10.

It is organized and circulated by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in collaboration with artist Carey Newman.

Published 2022-01-14 by Jordan Brenda

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