September 21 – December 1, 2019
Wigwam Chi-Chemung (Big House Canoe) is a floating art installation and Indigenous interpretive learning centre byElder Dr. Duke Redbird. Docked at the Marina, Wigwam Chi-Chemung tells the story of Indigenous presence on Toronto’s waterfront. The forty-foot pontoon houseboat has been covered with artwork by Redbird and Philip Cote, a painter and muralist from Moose Deer Point First Nation.
Partners in Wigwam Chi-Chemung include Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Place Corporation, Myseum of Toronto, SummerWorks Performance Festival, and Young People’s Theatre (YPT).
For further information and related events, please visit wigwamchichemung.com.
Bio
Elder Duke Redbird (born in 1939, Saugeen First Nation, Canada; lives in Toronto, Canada) is a pillar of First Nations literature in Canada and is an Elder, poet, activist, educator and artist. He occupies the position of Elder at the following organizations: the Myseum of Toronto; the Toronto Biennial; Summer Works; and the Toronto Arts Council’s Banff Leaders Lab. In 2020, Duke was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Toronto-based performing arts organization JAYU to recognize his artistic influence on human rights.
Exhibition Site
Ontario Place - Marina
Designed by Eberhard Zeidler, the futuristic campus was built across an artificial archipelago in Lake Ontario, south of Exhibition Place. After a partial closure of the park in 2012, Ontario Place reopened in 2017 as a public space that brings together recreation, leisure, and cultural programming. The marina, which is woven through the archipelago, remains a lively site along the waterfront.
955 Lake Shore Blvd W
Toronto ON
M6K 3B9