MARTIN AKWIRANORON LOFT,
CAIRA KARIHWENHÁ:WI NICHOLAS
Oronhia (Blue), 2012
MARTIN AKWIRANORON LOFT
Digital collage and print on watercolor paper (reproduction), 20 x 16 "
Ieronwarotáhkwa, 2023
CAIRA KARIHWENHÁ:WI NICHOLAS
Digital illustration (reproduction), 33 x 24 "
CURATOR’S TEXT
Martin Akwiranoron Loft and Caira Karihwenhá:wi Nicholas, two Kanien'kehá:ka artists based respectively in the communities of Kahnawà:ke and Kanehsatà:ke, proudly share an attachment to their culture and traditions. The heritage of Haudenosaunee beadwork and tributes to their ancestors are elements that unite them intimately in their works Oronhia (Blue) and Ieronwarotáhkwa, in which memories of the past, present and future are interwoven.
Martin Akwiranoron Loft's watercolor and digital collage print Oronhia (Blue) features a portrait of an unknown Kanien'kehá:ka chief surrounded by a Haudenosaunee beadwork frame. The soft, soothing blue sky overhangs the Adirondack Mountains, located in the traditional territory of the Kanien'kehá:ka, and accompanies the chief magnificently. This work reminds us that the protection of unceded native territories on Turtle Island is still guided by the ancestors, and that this struggle will continue for generations to come.
Emerging artist Caira Karihwenhá:wi Nicholas is part of this new generation of Kanien'kehá:ka artists who continue to honor the collective memories of her community and family. With the illustration Ieronwarotáhkwa, Caira educates and reminds Montrealers that this city was built on the unceded Kanien'kehá territory called Tiohtià:ke. Inspired by her family of many beadworkers, the word Tiohtià:ke is inscribed in the middle of a pink beaded heart, reminiscent of the traditional beaded medallions that are worn close to the heart, because love for the land will never be extinguished, just like the Kanien'kehá:ka language that Caira proudly speaks. Wa'tkwanonhwerá:ton ne Tiohtià:ke / Welcome to Montreal; with this work, Caira invites us to rethink our relationship with this land.
Through two generations and different experiences, Martin and Caira protect their traditions and culture that colonialism violently tried to eradicate, but love will always win.
MARTIN AKWIRANORON LOFT - BIOGRAPHY
(he)
Martin Akwiranoron Loft was born in Kahnawake, Mohawk Territory in 1960. He is a photographer, printmaker, and craftsperson. He was a founding member of the Native Indian Inuit Photographers' Association (NIIPA, 1985-2000), an influential indigenous artists' organization that presented Visions, the first international Indigenous photography conference and touring exhibition. Martin has exhibited his photography, traditional crafts, and prints nationally and internationally at such venues as at the National Museum of the American Indian, Museum of Civilization, Iroquois Indian Museum, Mashantucket Pequot Museum, McCord Museum, and the Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic. His work was included in a group exhibition in Venice, Italy and was part of the Imago International Art Exhibition, a parallel Venice Biennale. He recently was appointed to the PAC as a juror of the Creating, Knowing, and Sharing, Canada Council for the Arts fund. In 2020, he becomes a lead Indigenous mentor working with emerging Indigenous artists for the Conseil des Arts de Montréal.
Since 1988, Martin worked in his community of Kahnawake as Public Programs Supervisor at the Kanien'kehá:ka Onkwawén:na Raotitióhkwa Language and Cultural Center, where he coordinated community outreach activities, including culture and history workshops, conferences, art workshops, and visual arts exhibitions. Martin has a strong interest in Kanien'kehaka (Mohawk) language and is a graduate of the Ratiwennahnirats Mohawk Immersion.
Photo: Samantha Wenniseriiostha Pepin - Life in Full Bloom Photography
CAIRA KARIHWENHÁ:WI NICHOLAS - BIOGRAPHY
(she)
Caira Karihwenhá:wi Nicholas is a multi-passionate artist and self-described “rez kid” based in Kanehsatà:ke. Proud to be an emerging Kanien'kehá:ka artist, Caira is passionate about her culture and Kanien’ké:ha language, as well as art, music, food, and movement. Influenced by both traditional and modern approaches, she leans on her background as a graduate of RTC’s Printing & Digital Graphics program to find creativity in both the digital world as well as traditional hands-on and culturally significant approaches. Caira enjoys bringing different elements into her projects such as beadwork, painting, and sewing while allowing her creativity to find balance in the process of the fast-moving digital world she grew up in.
Currently enrolled in the Ratiwennahá:wi Adult Immersion Program, she is learning Kanien’ké:ha full-time while also completing a certificate in Education for Indigenous & Inuit with McGIll University. She enjoys working on projects that support or encourage her community, such as her collaboration with the FEHNCY study, as well as the project with Ville de Rosemère (to be unveiled in the Fall of 2023). Caira hopes to inspire other young Indigenous artists and youth through making and sharing her art and through encouraging them to pursue their passions despite of where they come from or what they have.