en-ca SC0294-RAR-PH-2

en-ca Newnham - Building B - Level 2 - In front of the side of La Boutique B2024

en-ca Arthur Renwick (b. 1965)

en-ca Nlaka'Pamux, B.C.

en-ca 2005

en-ca Photography

en-ca Archival inkjet print

en-ca 18 x 18 cm

en-ca 2/5

en-ca “People of European ancestry often have a psychological homeland back in Europe that gives them a sense of their identity. For First Nations, that homeland is right here. We don't have another place to go back to. This is it.”

en-ca Rabble

en-ca "Renwick’s colour photographs of First Nations churches in British Columbia, which were on view at the Art Gallery of Ontario in 2007 at the same time as an Emily Carr retrospective, are an extension of the documentary impulse and subtle political engagement of the Totem photographs. Nlaka’pamux (2005), for instance, shows a simple log-cabin church with an elegantly peaked roof and whitewashed bell tower, set on a flat, brown landscape, the horizon line high and the sky above it radiantly blue. Secwepemc (2005), on the other hand, is an image of a narrow clapboard structure fronted by a tower; half the church is cloaked in shadow and half shines in clean sunlight. Renwick’s churches have the pristine beauty of Shaker architecture and suggest a humble, intense spirituality.

The Art Gallery of Ontario owns Indian Church, one of Carr's signature pieces, which she did in 1928. Beyond signaling a shift in Carr's work to fewer First Nations themes [as proposed to her by Lawren he Art Gallery of Ontario owns Indian Church, one of Carr's signature pieces, which she did in 1928. Beyond signaling a shift in Carr's work to fewer First Nations themes [as proposed to her by Lawren Harris], Indian Church also signals the times in which churches were used as instruments to assimilate natives and encourage them to abandon their culture. A few years ago, Arthur Renwick started travelling the West, where he's from, to photograph churches in native communities. Many of these churches were built in the late 19th century and were around when Carr was living.

While churches still stand in native communities, a lot of things have changed. Now members of First Nations are becoming ministers. First Nations people are erecting totem poles in or near the churches. So, they're taking authority of these institutions. The churches are still central, but the nature of assimilation has changed. The assimilation in the late 19th century was a one-way street. But now it's happening in the opposite direction; assimilation is a two-way street.

So, you look at these two works, Carr's Indian Church and Renwick's photographs, and you realize in that span of almost 100 years a huge shift has happened. Between Renwick and Carr, we begin to see the First Nations of today next to the First Nations of yesterday.

Toronto-based First Nations photographer Arthur Renwick frequently returns to his ancestral home in British Columbia. On a trip home in the summer of 2005, he photographed several churches within First Nations communities, struck by their simple, tranquil beauty and stark white stance.
These churches, having survived since the late 19th century, can be viewed as symbolic of the cultural assimilation programs imposed by the government of that period. They have since become quiet witnesses to First Nations authority. During the first half of the 20th century, Christianity filled the void created as a result of the government's outlawing of First Nations spiritual and cultural practices. Many First Nations people continue to embrace Christianity but have established their own traditional practices, such as the raising of totem poles, into the rituals of the church. Some have exerted their influence by becoming ministers. Others have adapted old traditions to new pursuits, for instance, using their woodworking skills to build churches.

The presentation of Renwick's photographs in the context of the Emily Carr exhibition in intended to make connections with her painting, Indian Church, 1929. Both artists address relevant issues to the cultures of the Northwest coast. While Carr documented a dying civilization, Renwick reveals the continuing integration of Christianity into contemporary First Nations culture. Unlike Carr's church set forlornly in a dense forest Renwick's buildings are located squarely in the community, where we see snippets of community life happening around them."

en-ca Art Gallery of Ontario

en-ca Purchased from Gallery TPW.

en-ca No signature

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