Serving Time at the Mush Hole

NEWS RELEASE ALGOMA UNIVERSITY **************************** Serving Time at the Mush Hole The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre at Algoma University presents Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G.

NEWS RELEASE

ALGOMA UNIVERSITY

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Serving Time at the Mush Hole

The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre at Algoma University presents Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks (Mohawk, Six Nations) - Selected works from Mush Hole Remembered (2008) September 12 - October 4, 2013

The Shingwauk Residential Schools Centre (SRSC) at Algoma University is pleased to announce the opening of a visiting exhibition of original works by Mohawk artist R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks.

Serving Time at The Mush Hole: Visual Testimony of R. G. Miller-Lahiaaks (Mohawk, Six Nations) - Selected works from Mush Hole Remembered (2008) represents, in the words of Miller, "a combination of vague, mundane memories of years at the school, and flashes of horror experienced there. They are the strongest memories I could approach without descending into a place I would not be able to emerge from."

Serving Time is presented by the SRSC as part of its Healing and Reconciliation through Education programming, funded by an Aboriginal Healing Foundation Indian Residential Schools Research Grant, awarded to the SRSC in August 2012.

This programming furthers the efforts of the partners to this decades old endeavour, the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association and Algoma University, to promote sharing, healing, and learning with regard to the legacies of Indian Residential Schools and the broader colonial context.

"This," Jonathan Dewar, SRSC Director, says "means taking on even the most challenging issues, such as the truths of physical, sexual, and spiritual abuse and genocide - themes explored unflinchingly by the artist and curator Neal Keating."

Miller describes the project as having "evolved from decades of need to express my personal outrage at the world, combined with a moment of political timeliness. I thought it would be groundbreaking and exciting to tackle - it turned into four years of nightmares and breakdowns, until I realized I had a more fragile grip on my centre than I knew. This was as close as I could come with sharing my story."

And, Dewar notes: "The SRSC hosts these selected works at a time when new revelations of indignities, this time in the form of nutritional experiments performed on children, have come to light and on the heels of the controversy generated by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights' decision not to label the Residential School system as 'genocide'."

The exhibition will open Thursday, September 12, with a reception from 6-8 p.m. in the East Wing of Algoma University, where the SRSC is located, and Friday, September 13, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m.

Due to the nature of the themes explored in this exhibition, visitor discretion is advised.

As such, the exhibition will afterward only be open Monday-Friday, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

SRSC staff will be available at all times for interpretation.

Local health supports will also be available.

The artist's work and related themes will also be explored in the coming weeks through other SRSC programming, which will be announced shortly.

About Algoma University

Algoma University offers a wide variety of liberal arts and sciences degree options including programs in Psychology, Computer Science, Business Administration, Fine Arts, Community Economic and Social Development, and Biology in Sault Ste. Marie, Brampton, Timmins and St. Thomas.

As a partner with Shingwauk Kinoomaage Gamig, Algoma U is committed to respecting Anishinaabe knowledge and culture.

Algoma University has launched its Essential Elements Campaign to expand its campus and offer more scholarships and awards to students.

To learn more, visit www.algomau.ca.

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