Weaving Cultural Identities

Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

Image courtesy of the Vancouver Biennale

Vancouver Biennale’s Touring Exhibit Comes to Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

February 18 – April 15, 2023
Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
3 Rosamond Street East, Almonte
mvtm.ca/mvt2/event-page/weaving-cultural-identities

Weaving Cultural Identities was a prominent feature of the Vancouver Biennale 2018 – 2021. Bringing together diverse communities, Weaving Cultural Identities celebrates Indigenous and migrant stories and experiences. The touring exhibit is making its way to the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum (MVTM) from February 18 to April 15, 2023, with touring support from the Canada Council for the Arts and BC Arts Council. Curated by Zarina Laalo, this exhibit connects Coast Salish and Muslim artists in exploring lost heritage, cultural knowledge, and self-identification through textile traditions. The contemporary world is a global society of diverse cultures and beliefs, and this exhibit engages with the challenge of reconciling lost heritage, sharing sacred space, and celebrating cultural knowledge.

The 13 textile artists and 5 graphic artists of various ethnicities were engaged to reflect on their sense of belonging and cultural identity, while representing larger ancestral and cultural traditions. These explorations manifested in 10 textile works and 8 graphic representations, and subsequently evolved into a platform for community dialogue around uncomfortable issues, such as forcible displacement, diaspora, and assimilation. The MVTM is looking forward to continuing this dialogue and providing a forum for discussion within the local community.

“Weaving Cultural Identities is an exhibit that we are truly excited to bring to the Museum and to our community. It offers an opportunity for visitors to engage in self-reflection about their own cultural identity, and to participate in the discourse surrounding marginalized histories. We hope that this exhibit promotes discussion and provides relatable content for many in our community.”
– Michael Rikley-Lancaster, Executive Director/Curator, Mississippi Valley Textile Museum

About the Vancouver Biennale
The Vancouver Biennale is a non-profit charitable organization that celebrates art in public space, creating a catalyst for learning, community engagement, and social action where people live, work, play, and transit. Our mission is to make great art accessible, transform and activate public space, grow the cultural assets of our host cities, and bring a wide diversity of people together through the shared experience of art. For more information visit here.

About the Mississippi Valley Textile Museum
The Mississippi Valley Textile Museum is committed to collecting, preserving, and telling the stories of the local mill workers and labour history, while offering an open, inclusive space for the local community and visitors from across the globe. For more information visit here.

We acknowledge that this sacred land on which Mississippi Mills is now located has been a site of human activity for over 10,000 years and is rich in Indigenous history. This land is the ancestral and unceded territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabe Nation. We are grateful to the Algonquin ancestors who cared for the land and water in order that we might meet here today.