Bill Reid Gallery launches new publication to accompany Sho Sho Esquiro’s first solo exhibition in Canada
Doctrine of Discovery features a collection of the artist’s contemporary fashions crafted using trade cloths, furs, leathers, hides, beads and shells sourced directly from her Yukon homelands
Sho Sho Esquiro, “Kill the Indian, Save the Man,” 2021, cashmere wool, rayon, and seed beads. Photo by Patrick Shannon; production by Supernaturals Modelling
BILL REID GALLERY of Northwest Coast Art has just released a new publication to accompany artist-activist Sho Sho Esquiro’s first solo exhibition in Canada. Doctrine of Discovery features meticulously crafted couture gowns, textiles, and paintings celebrating the strength, beauty, and resilience of First Nations communities in the face of historical and ongoing trauma.
The publication features photos of Esquiro’s striking works as well as a critical curatorial essay by guest curator Miranda Belarde-Lewis and contributions from other guest writers.
Esquiro, who’s of Kaska Dene/Cree/Scottish descent, is known for provoking conversations around colonial genocidal practices, confronting the murder and disappearance of Indigenous women and children, and honouring front-line activists in her body of work.
“This powerful and vital exhibition of contemporary fashion sheds an urgent light on the devastating impacts of the Doctrine of Discovery, an international law that falsely gave European settlers dominion over the lands and Indigenous peoples of the Western Hemisphere,” Belarde-Lewis said in a statement. “Through Esquiro’s artful storytelling using materials from her Yukon homelands, patrons are asked to confront challenging truths about Canadian history that still have catastrophic consequences today. Given the ongoing recovery of Indigenous children at the sites of former residential ‘schools’ coupled with the ongoing fight against corporate extraction of natural resources, Sho Sho Esquiro: Doctrine of Discovery shares a critical perspective on the lived experiences of First Nations communities.”
The publication, $25, is available as of December 18 for shipping or pick-up at Bill Reid Gallery. Sho Sho Esquiro: Doctrine of Discovery runs until June 5, 2022.
See Bill Reid Gallery for more information.
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