Îethka Voices

A Collective Exhibition by the Nakoda AV Club

Curated by Chey Suwâtâgâ Mû

The Nakoda AV Club uses their art to speak out about issues and ideas that are important to Stoney Nakoda youth.

“We understand our role as artists as a responsibility to our people. Historically Îethka had societies who were responsible for different functions of communal life; societies work had implications for physical, emotional, spiritual, and social wellbeing, and thus included functions such as diplomacy, politics, sovereignty, care, and knowledge dissemination. Our work as artists is to restore the practice of a storytelling society to our community, and to take on the responsibilities associated with that. Storytellers help contextualize the world and guide the development of values and morals. Our arts practice performs this function by sharing our lived experiences. This validates our community members' feelings and experiences and helps outsiders to see the long term implications of colonialism which impacts every aspect of our lives (and theirs too). As storytellers we have a duty to encourage good relations so that our people can have better lives.” - Chey Suwâtâgâ Mû, Nakoda AV Club Artist, Curator

On the photo: artwork by Chey Suwâtâgâ Mû