Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley: Oshkimaadiziig | The New People

The Art Gallery of Sudbury invites you to the opening of an exhibition by emerging Anishinaabeg legends painter Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, entitled Oshkimaadiziig: The New People on Thursday, September 12, 2019 from 5 to 7:30 pm.

Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley, from the community of Wasauksing First Nation, Ontario, is a painter and illustrator who has exhibited his work since 2015 across Canada. The artist graduated from the Graphic Design Program at Nova Scotia Community College in Halifax in 2014. He has had several exhibitions in British Columbia, Ontario and Nova Scotia exhibiting his paintings, screen-printed posters and zines. His exhibition history includes exhibitions with Woodland Cultural Centre, Skwachays Gallery and an artist-in-residence with Radstorm in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Oshkimaadiziig: The New People is an exhibition exploring the Anishinaabeg Seven Fires Prophecies. “[The prophecies] speak of restoring relations between indigenous and settler society. The prophecies also educate Anishinaabeg youth on the history of the great Anishinaabeg migration from the mouth of the Saint Lawrence River over to the land surrounding the great lakes,” says Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley.The artist will interpret the Anishinaabeg prophecies through eight paintings, with the eighth and final fire represented in the artist’s ninth painting.

“The Anishinaabeg Seven Fires Prophecies are the foundation of our resistance and our resurgence. They have foretold our history from the beginning of time. They are the reason for our survival, they are the reason we continue to emerge and re-create. . . . I am determined to restore the culture and Identity of our people through stories and art,” Joshua Mangeshig Pawis-Steckley writes of the exhibition. “By telling the story of the Seven Fires Prophecies – with the use of our contemporary takes on woodland art – I aim to inspire new generations of indigenous youth to turn back to the old ways and relearn the stories and teachings of our people.”