Connexion Artist-Run Centre is pleased to announce the launch of its LAND/MARK series of programming with artist-in-residence Meagan Musseau

Connexion Artist-Run Centre is pleased to announce the launch of its LAND/MARK series of programming with artist-in-residence Meagan Musseau, who will be in Fredericton from September 18 to 29.

Meagan Musseau is an interdisciplinary visual artist of Mi’kmaq and French ancestry from Elmastukwek within the Ktaqamkuk territory of Mi’kma’ki (Bay of Islands, Newfoundland and Labrador). She uses beadwork, textiles, performance, video, and installation to explore notions of identity, language, memory, and the relationship between her body, the land, and materials. Musseau has a BFA in Visual Art from Grenfell Campus Memorial University and she is the Atlantic Canadian representative for the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC).

While in residence with Connexion, Musseau will develop a new iteration of the land-based performance “when they poison the bogs we will still braid sweetgrass”, first performed on Treaty 7 territory in November 2017. “when they poison the bogs…” is a durational performance that speaks to access to natural resources and the knowledge required to harvest them. The artist replaces traditional Mi’kmaq basket weaving materials with vinyl flagging tape, using the relationship between her body and the land to activate synthetic objects as a form of prayer and create story-objects that acknowledge the territory on which they were made.

Musseau will work from a studio based at the New Brunswick College of Craft and Design and present a lunch-hour artist talk on Thursday, September 20 at 12:00pm at the new Library of Craft and Design, xx Queen Street. The date and location of the final performance will be determined as the residency unfolds, so please stay tuned for more information.