A short post this week. I am travelling; visiting London and parts of France. Here is a report on one exhibition that, for a moment, brought me back home.
London’s Trafalgar Square on a Saturday is a river of people, not always flowing in one direction but swirling and gathering, forming pools that break away and move on. Across the Square in Canada House Gallery, Hannah Claus’ exhibition, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie - éntie nonkwá:ti - where the waters flow - south shore, brought a welcome respite from the crowds and noise of the square.
Claus is a Kanien’kehá:ka artist from the Bay of Quinte in Ontario, who now lives in Montreal where she teaches at Concordia University. Over a twenty-year career, Claus has explored ways of expressing her relationship to the land by combining her Indigenous knowledge and contemporary materials to create immersive installations.
In this exhibition, the small intimate space of Canada House sparkles like the river Claus is representing: the St. Lawrence or Kaniatarowánen — the mighty Canadian river that flows from Ontario to the Atlantic. In wide bands, Claus presents a literal kaleidoscope of images that capture and refashion in abstract patterns the river’s multiple facets — water, land, plants, and human structures. More imprinted images of the river adorn vinyl disks that hang in the air like so many water drops. They twirl and wink like the glittering surface of moving water. With its simple theme, Claus’ exhibition offers a calm reflection on Canada’s natural bounty in the heart of London.
The exhibition continues until February 7.
Thanks Marie - enjoy your time as shared and appreciated.