Opening Feb. 6 at 5 P.M. at ECU, BEADSOUP! spotlights emerging and established Indigenous artists with dozens of artworks, live performances and a look back into the history of the storied show.
On the 30th anniversary of the first Indigenous art show at Emily Carr University of Art + Design (ECU), the Aboriginal Gathering Place (AGP) is thrilled to present a new exhibition featuring Indigenous students, staff, faculty and alumni.
Curated by ECU students Leanne Inuarak-Dall (BFA 2025) and Rylee Taje (BFA 2025) with support from Aaron Rice (BFA 2025), BEADSOUP! will feature performances, archival materials, a feast and a huge range of artworks from across disciplines.
“Bead soup is what happens when you take all the different beads you’ve spilled and collect them in a jar,” Rylee says. “People work with that random assortment because they want to use everything they have. We chose that title because we were thinking of the unique constellation of students’ artworks and how they all pair and connect to one another.”
Rylee, who is studying Critical + Cultural Practices at ECU with a minor in Curatorial Practices, says assisting with last year’s Indigenous art exhibition, Frybread as Fok, was a transformative experience, providing her with vital practice-based learning opportunities.
“It was very inspirational and really started something for me,” she says. “Now I help run the Neighbourhood Gallery on campus. And it allowed me to see curation as a social thing, a way to connect with other artists and create a broader narrative alongside supporting one another in our individual aims.”
Daina Warren (BFA 2003), Executive Director, Indigenous Initiatives at ECU as well as a distinguished curator and ECU alum, knows the feeling. As a student in 1999, she helped curate the fourth annual Indigenous art exhibition at ECU.
“It was my first curatorial project, and I went straight into curating professionally after I graduated,” she says.
The exhibition first began in 1995 as part of what was then called First Nations Awareness Day at Emily Carr. The inaugural event featured presentations from guest artists Loretta Todd, George Littlechild, Teresa Marshall and Mary Longman, an opening ceremony led by Musqueam Elder Dr. Vincent Stogan, as well as live performances and artworks by Indigenous guest artists and students.
Daina notes that at the time, AGP was only a nascent idea on campus, and the Indigenous community was just beginning to find its collective identity — a project fostered by First Nations advisor Shirley Bear and her successor, Brenda Crabtree.
“We were trying to figure out who and what we were,” says Daina, who co-curated the show with award-winning artist, curator and author Peter Morin (BFA 2001). “We were trying to understand how to connect all these different practices and people from across Canada. So, to be here now and see what Brenda has accomplished with the AGP over the years is mind-blowing. It’s a big honour to be able to contribute to that work.”
Read the full article at ECU News.
