Okizi (To Heal) Call for Artists

All My Relations Arts invites artists to participate in the group exhibition, Okizi (To Heal). All American Indian* artists are welcome to apply. All works must be original and can be 2D, 3D, video, or performance. 

* NACDI and All My Relations Arts’ mission is to develop and support the careers of American Indian artists. We acknowledge that blood quantum is a colonial construct and accept applications and displays work by artists that can show familial ties to traditional & historic tribal nations through enrollment/descendancy.

ABOUT THE EXHIBITION:

Okizi (To Heal), is a partner exhibition with the American Swedish Institute (ASI) in response to their upcoming traveling exhibition, Arctic Highways: Unbound Indigenous People. A common theme of these dual exhibitions as the meeting of two Indigenous peoples is the healing impacts of cultural revitalization. While efforts were made to separate Native peoples from their spirituality, language, and cultural knowledge and traditions, Okizi (To Heal) will highlight the revitalization efforts that reconnect this generation and future generations to our language, land, and culture as a means of healing from historical and generational trauma.

In partnership with ASI, All My Relations Arts will host Sami artists, Tomas Colbengtsson and Stina Folkebrandt’s work as described here: 

Mygration: Frozen moments of movement. The inspiration for Mygration is the emigration of Sami and reindeer around 1900 from the Nordic countries to Canada and Alaska. The Sami were offered work to teach the Inuit reindeer husbandry. The big gold rush also meant that many people needed food and draft animals. Some Sami returned home after a few years and others remained.

In the Mygration exhibition, Tomas and Stina reflect on issues such as emigration, herd mentality, cycles, time and the forgotten stories. Animals know no nationality or national borders, they go where they want, they follow the pasture and instinct and people who work with herd animals follow the animals’ cycle. The reindeer are a herd animal and being together provides stronger protection against dangers. The whole flock becomes a single organism with a thousand eyes that can detect dangers, one turns the other. Humans are also social and want to feel community. – Mygration catalog.

The relationship between Sami people and the reindeer mirrors the relationship with the buffalo and the Oceti Sakowin. The negative impacts of colonization share similarities between these two Indigenous peoples. Colonization impacted the Sami Indigenous peoples in a similar way as it did Native peoples of North America. Loss of language, loss of food systems, and loss of land were perpetuated onto Native people as impacts of colonization created violent acts upon our cultural knowledge and traditions. 

The work of healing acknowledges this trauma and actively works on revitalizing the practices that we were separated from. Through language revitalization, landback movements, and returning to our traditional knowledge and traditions, we are working to heal historical and generational traumas. Artwork selected for this exhibition will highlight those ways in which we are becoming a healed people. 

“It is the artists’ task to show ways of healing and restoration to their own culture and, by extension, the right to our inherited lands and to become a healed people.” – Sami artist Tomas Colbengtsson.  

PARTNERSHIPS

All My Relations Arts (AMRA) honors and strengthens relationships between contemporary American Indian artists and the living influence of preceding generations, between artists and audiences of all ethnic backgrounds, and between art and the vitality of the American Indian Cultural Corridor.

The American Swedish Institute is a vibrant arts and cultural organization that engages locally and connects globally. With a campus including the historic Turnblad Mansion and the Nelson Cultural Center, ASI uses its resources to be a valuable community asset and integral partner. The American Swedish Institute is a gathering place for all people to explore diverse experiences of migration, identity, belonging and the environment through arts and culture, informed by enduring links to Sweden.

SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS

Complete the following form and send along with 1 – 5 less than 4MB digital images of your original artworks via Google Drive or dropbox link to [email protected]  by Sunday, January 7th, 2023 to be considered for selection. Artists will be notified if they are selected by January 10th, 2024.  All finished artworks must arrive in the gallery by January 22nd, 2024.

DEADLINES & DATES (are tentative)

• Submission Deadline________________________________January 7th, 2023
• Notification of Status________________________________January 10th, 2024
• Artwork delivery due________________________________January 22 nd, 2024
• AMRA Opening Reception___________________________February 1st, 2024
• American Swedish Institute Celebration ___________February 2nd, 2024
• American Swedish Institute Opening_______________February 3rd, 2024
• AMRA On View_______________________________________February 1st, – April 13th, 2024 

DETAILS

• Selected artwork will be displayed at either All My Relations Arts Gallery or American Swedish Institute. Artists will be notified of which gallery will be exhibiting their work.
• Shipping of artwork to be displayed at All My Relations Arts will be covered by AMRA. 
• All artwork will be insured from the time it arrives at the gallery, until it is shipped to the artist.
• All artwork may be for sale, while on display at All My Relations Arts. AMRA takes no commission on artworks sold during exhibitions. 
• AMRA artists who provide gallery talks and/or workshops will receive additional honorariums.

ARTWORK SPECIFICATIONS

• Artwork must be original.
• Artwork can be any medium, but must be visual / fine art.
• Artwork must show direct relation to exhibition themes.

DIGITAL IMAGE SUBMISSION (Please submit 1 – 5 digital images of your work)

• 1 digital image per artwork submitted
• Max 4MB JPEG image
• Minimum 1000 x 1000 pixels
• Minimum 300 dpi, 1 MB

To apply, visit the Google Form HERE