Hannah Claus: tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke)

Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery

Hannah Claus, dish, 2025. Installation view of the exhibition Hannah Claus, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke) curated by Nicole Burisch at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, 2025. Courtesy of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Photo: Jean-Michael Seminaro

Hannah Claus: tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke)

Curated by Nicole Burisch
November 19, 2025 – February 7, 2026
Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal

The Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery presents tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke), a major solo exhibition by artist Hannah Claus featuring sculpture, video, and two-dimensional works that explore Claus’ personal connection to the island of Tiohtià:ke (Montréal).

On view for the first time are two new works created specifically for this exhibition. The first, watersong [Kaniatarowanen – othorè:ke nonkwá:ti] (2025), is a large-scale installation that traces the trajectory of the waterway that runs along the north shore of the island. The second, dish (2025), is composed of hundreds of suspended circular discs that together form the shape of a bowl, emphasizing collective responsibility to care for all parts of the world.

Hannah Clas, watersong [Kaniatarowanen – othorè:ke nonkwá:ti], 2025. Installation view of the exhibition Hannah Claus, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke) curated by Nicole Burisch at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, 2025. Courtesy of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Photo: Jean-Michael Seminaro

Claus, who is Kanien’kehá:ka and English, has made Montréal her home since 2001. Through this exhibition, she expresses gratitude to the land and waters of this place while reframing our relationship to the urban environment and calling attention to the overlooked histories of the city.

Drawing inspiration from the natural world and Haudenosaunee ways of understanding place, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke) invites visitors to slow down and reconnect with the living environment that surrounds them. Through shimmering suspended forms, immersive imagery, and video meditations that explore grief and perceptions of the natural world, the artworks presented in the exhibition trace the visible and invisible currents that link people, land, and water across Tiohtià:ke.

This project was made possible through the Leonard & Bina Ellen Program in Support of Artistic Production.

Hannah Claus, skystrip, 2006. Installation view of the exhibition Hannah Claus, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie (Tiohtià:ke) curated by Nicole Burisch at the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery, Concordia University, Montreal, 2025. Courtesy of the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery. Photo: Jean-Michael Seminaro

About the Artist

Hannah Claus (Kenhtè:ke | Tyendinaga Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte) is a Kanien’kehá:ka | English visual artist who engages with material and sensorial relationships to express Kanien’kehá:ka epistemology and ontology. Recipient of the Eiteljorg Fellowship (2019) and the Prix Giverny (2020), Claus’ recent group exhibitions include Contextile: Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art (Guimarães, Portugal) and Radical Stitch. Her solo exhibition, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie – éntie nonkwá:ti – where the waters flow – south shore is currently showing at Canada House Gallery (London, England). She is an Associate Professor in Studio Arts at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke | Montréal.

About the Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery

The Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery at Concordia University is committed to researching, exhibiting, documenting and disseminating contemporary art in a local, national and international context.

Leonard & Bina Ellen Art Gallery
Ground floor of the McConnell Library Building, Concordia University
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Montreal, QC H3G 1M8
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