Festival Art Souterrain

Michael Belmore is an Anishinaabe artist originating from the Obishikokaang (Lac Seul) First Nation. His art practice often incorporates natural materials like wood and stone, as he considers how these materials interact with each other, with nature, and the ways in which people interact with those materials found in the environment. For Belmore, it is the seemingly small things, simple things, that inspire his work; the swing of a hammer, the warmth of a fire, the persistence of waves on a shore. This exhibition features works that interrogate the processes and actions that play upon wood, stone and rockfaces.

Michael Belmore’s art practice is primarily based in resistant stone, copper and other metals. Belmore’s process is intricate and time-consuming. Given his deliberate and thoughtful pace, his sculptures and installations are founded on a deep understanding of the qualities – physical and symbolic – of the materials. He has exhibited in both Canada and the USA. His works are in such public collections as National Gallery of Canada, McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Agnes Etherington Art Centre, Art Gallery of Ontario, and the National Museum of the American Indian – Smithsonian Museum, Washington.

daphne is a non-profit Indigenous artist-run centre committed to serving the needs of emerging, mid-career, and established Indigenous artists through exhibitions and associated programming, workshops, residencies and curatorial initiatives. daphne encourages a culture of peace through critical, respectful exchange with our Indigenous and non-Indigenous peers and audiences.

daphne was founded by Hannah Claus, Nadia Myre, Caroline Monnet and Skawennati. Our name was inspired by the revered Anishinaabe artist, Daphne Odjig (1919- 2016), who also created an Indigenous artist-run space, in Winnipeg in 1971. Like her, we are making a place for ourselves and our peers to exhibit our work, to gather to take part and contribute to the important conversations that are taking place across Turtle Island.