Wahwâ Neechi Funk!: Aboriginal Humour Exhibition

September 23, 2006 to January 14, 2007

Organized by the MacKenzie Art Gallery with the support of the Canada Council for the Arts, the Saskatchewan Arts Board, and the City of Regina Arts Commission. Guest curated by Neal McLeod.

Our greatest storytellers have followed the echo of laughter through the journeys of wîsahkêcâhk (kistêsinâw / our elder brother) and through the epic journeys and struggles of our ancestors through the hills, valleys and rivers. Pâhpiwin (laughter) brings us all together and gives us hope through difficult times. Some of my ancestors fought at Batoche and, as their old bodies were hit by bullets, they told jokes and made each other laugh: one last joke before the big trip to the teepee in the sky.

We find this pâhpiwin in all aspects of our lives including in everyday neechi (Aboriginal) life. The work of David Benjoe (Ugly Man Corner) takes us to the powwow trail where we find men telling stories. Their laughter expresses their wish to turn ordinary people and events into something memorable, like the Bannock Man. Sheila Orr takes us to a rez home at Christmas where she shows us that even our living rooms can be bring us the funk, the wahwâ, to our lives.

Both Lionel Peyachew and Judy Anderson play with persistent stereotypes of Aboriginal people: Peyachew takes us to the rez hockey arena, where the everyday carries traces of the distant past through the imagery of professional sports. Judy Anderson returns us to childhood through our toys. I myself played with the Playmobil sets that she depicts and through my play internalized a prefabricated set of ideas of what it means to be “Aboriginal.” Her cartoon narration disrupts constructed stereotypes, as does Peyachew’s playful take on hockey equipment.

Pâhpiwin often involves satire and double meanings. Mike Steadman’s piece Aboriginal takes an everyday object, a delicious bucket of KFC chicken, and plays with the Colonel as a symbol of a changing world. Steadman reminds us that we are no longer buffalo hunters, but rather eaters of fried chicken: as our food changes, our culture changes. Through an examination of the visual paradox of the rabbit/duck, Garneau metaphorically dissects the double layering of meaning and, consequently, the complexities of Métis and Aboriginal identity in contemporary times.

Our great storytellers have often reminded us of our individual limitations and need for others to enlarge our perception and understanding of the world around us: there is no better way to do that than through neechi funk and humour.

Neal McLeod is a poet, visual artist, filmmaker and academic. He is the guest curator of this exhibition.

Image Credit:

David Garneau

Métis Identity Theory, Triptych, 2006

acrylic on panel

Triptych, 39.4 x 49.5 cm each

Collection of the artist.

Wahwâ Neechi Funk!: Aboriginal Humour Exhibition

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