Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel

Relatedness, Continuity and Activation
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Three key concepts unite the works in Àbadakone:

Relatedness is the view that all things on the earth are our relations, an idea that is fundamental to Indigenous worldviews.
Continuity is relatedness across generations, histories and our futures.
Activation is about presence: how an artist animates a space, an object, or an idea through performance, video or viewer engagement.

As the artists in Àbadakone demonstrate, these three concepts – all significant concerns of our day considering our ecological, social and political state – continue to be an integral part of Indigenous art practice.

Exhibition Opening
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On the unforgettable evening of November 7, 2019, the National Gallery of Canada launched Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel. Scotiabank Great Hall was filled to capacity as 3,600 guests joined more than fifty exhibiting artists from around the world, in the largest-ever opening event in the Gallery’s history. Experience the excitement in this video, which captures the evening’s joyous celebration of contemporary Indigenous art.

Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel – Exhibition Opening

The Meaning Behind Àbadakone
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The word Àbadakone in the Algonquin language translates into “continuous fire” in English.

In keeping with the metaphor of fire ignited with Sakahán in 2013, the title Àbadakone was provided by the Elders Language Committee of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg. They felt that its connotation of a fire within each artist that continues to burn would be an appropriate title for the second presentation of this ongoing series of exhibitions showcasing Indigenous art from around the world.

Read the statement

Eji Ekidòmagak “Àbadakone”

Ked eji ganawenindàgwak màmawe nitam wàbandahidiwin “Sakahan” Mikinàk-minitigong o-wàbandahidìwigamigong kà oshki wàbandahigàdeg 2013, eji ekidòmagak “Sakahan”, Kejeyàdizidjig kì mino mandjiwowag “Àbadakone” kidji wewenind ijinikàdeg iyo nìjin wàbandahidiwin wàbanda- hiwewàdj Anishinàbeg o-mazhinabìhige kaye wìyagi-kwenàdjichiganan.

Kà-ànikenamawindjig Cobàd (Stella Chabot), Kìshkànakwad (Earl McGregor) ashidj Pien Kìwekwad (Gà-ganawàbandang Ishkode), Kitigàn Zìbìng wendjibàdjig wìndimàgeg iye “Ishkode” kichi kije manidowan ondje Anishinàbeg, ashidj àbidad apìch mino-chìsakenàniwang. Mì dash eta, wàbandaman Wìyagi-kwenàdjichigan ashidj Anishinàbeg gà mazinabìhige kaye wìyagi-kwenàdjichigewàdj tedibà-Akìng, Keyeyàdizidjig mandjiwowag kàn chìsakewizinon, mì eta ondje pepejig Anishinàbe “o-Pìndàgina-Ishkodemiwàn”.

Kìshkànakwad kì ijinam ondje “Àbadakone” wàbandahidiwin. Ogì wàbandahiwen wàbandahidìwigamigong. Eji ànikanòtamàgedj Anishinàbe mazinabìhige kaye wìyagi-kwenàdjichigedjig tedibà-Akìng màmawe o-wìyagi-kwenàdjichigewaniwàn wendji “Àbadakoneg” wenzikàg o-mindonenindjiganiwàng, odeyiniwàng ashidj wendjibàwàdj.

– Kitigàn Zibi Pimàdjiwowigamig

The Meaning Behind Àbadakone | Continuous Fire

In keeping with the National Gallery of Canada’s first exhibition Sakahàn – presented in 2013 – which means “lighting a fire,” the elders from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg community felt that Àbadakone – “the fire continues to burn” – is an appropriate title for the second exhibition showcasing Indigenous Art from around the world.

Language Committee members Cobàd (Stella Chabot), Kìshkànakwad (Earl McGregor) and Pien Kìwekwad, also a Sacred Fire Keeper, from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg explain that fire is sacred and spiritual to the Anishinàbe people, and is used in ceremonies. However, looking at the art and the Indigenous artists from all around world, the elders feel that Àbadakone is not in ceremony but in each individual’s Internal Flame.

Kìshkànakwad had a vision for the Àbadakone exhibition. He presented his idea to the Gallery. His interpretation is: Indigenous Artists from around the world with their artwork for which “the fire continues to burn” from their minds, hearts and communities.

– Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Cultural Centre

Exhibition Highlights
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Barry Ace

Born 1958, M'Chigeeng, Ontario, Canada
Lives and works in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Nigik Makizinan – Otter Moccasins, 2014

shoes, otter pelt, velvet, electronic components, synthetic porcupine bristles, deer hide, synthetic felt, copper beads and brass bells. National Gallery of Canada. Purchased 2017 © Barry Ace Photo: NGC

Ace’s richly embellished “trail dusters” – a customary southern Plains Indigenous moccasin technology used to erase the wearer’s footprints as they walked – evoke contemporary concerns about the traces of our “digital footprints.” Featuring Anishinaabe floral patterns that incorporate beads and electronic components with natural and synthetic materials, this work seamlessly combines traditional cultural practices Ace learned in childhood with references to more recent digital technology.

Zanele Muholi

Zulu. Born 1972, Umlazi, Kwazulu, South Africa
Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa

MaID I, Syracuse, 2015

from the series Somnyama Ngonyama, silver gelatin prints. © Zanele Muholi, courtesy the artist, Yancey Richardson, New York, and Stevenson Cape Town / Johannesburg Photo: NGC

A self-described “visual activist,” Muholi uses the politics of representation and the aesthetics of photography to create spaces of recognition for queer black South Africans. This work is titled MaID, in reference both to “My Identity” and to the “demeaning name given to all subservient black women in South Africa.” Like much of their work, this insightful and provocative self-portrait challenges reductive, contrived views of blackness.

Lisa Hageman Yahgujanaas

Haida. Born 1972, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
Lives and works on Haida Gwaii, British Columbia, Canada

Raining Gold, 2012–17

sheep wool and gold leaf. Global Affairs Canada – Visual Art Collection © Lisa Hageman Yahgujanaas Photo: NGC

This significant weaving incorporates the artist’s contemporary designs in a manner she describes as harmonious with ancestral robes. It is both a meditation on the strength of community in Haida culture and a reminder of the importance of extending collective work into global contexts. The bold yet intricate patterns honour the waters of Haida Gwaii, recalling the nurturing rains, the rivers and streams and the oceans she describes as “connecting us all.”

Evgeniy Salinder

Nenets, Born 1981, Salekhard, Siberia
Lives and works in Salekhard, Siberia

Swimmer (Self-portrait), 2017

moose antler and dye. Evgeniy Salinder and indiGem Inc. © Evgeniy Salinder Photo: NGC

Salinder’s figures depict the Sikhirtya people who once occupied the land where the Nenets now live in northern Siberia, summoning a distant yet vital thread of history. He adorns them with leather and bone, alluding to the Sikhirtya’s legendary affinity for craft and to their tools of cultural practice such as lassos for reindeer herding. The artist also incorporates circles and holes into these figures to create a sense of harmony.

Will Wilson

Diné (Navajo). Born 1969, San Francisco, California, United States
Lives and works in Santa Fe, New Mexico, United States

K’ó moks Imperial Stormtrooper (Andy Everson),
Citizen of the K’ómoks First Nation, 2017

from the series Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange: dzidzəlalič [Seattle], 2012–18, inkjet print from wet plate collodion scan (ed. 1/3). Collection of the artist © Will Wilson Photo: NGC

Indicative of his various CIPX (Critical Indigenous Photographic Exchange) series, Wilson creates images using painstaking photographic processes and equipment from the late 1800s and early 20th century, which he translates into digital images. Here the subject, Andy Everson, is depicted in traditional Kwakwaka’wakw regalia, which on closer inspection, is notable for its inclusion of a Star Wars stormtrooper helmet that he has carefully painted with Kwakwaka’wakw designs.

Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou

Goun. Born 1965, Porto-Novo, Benin
Lives and works in Porto-Novo, Benin

Untitled, 2013

from the series Musclemen, chromogenic print. National Gallery of Canada. Purchased 2017 © Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou, courtesy of Jack Bell Gallery Photo: NGC

Agbodjelou is a leading Beninese photographer based in Porto-Novo, a city once known as the gateway to the transatlantic slave trade. In this series, local competitive bodybuilders pose with a theatrical bravado that contrasts with the soft floral props and decorative textiles of the backdrop and clothing. Part of a larger body of work, Citizens of Porto-Novo, this work reflects and subverts representations of African masculinity in studio portraiture.

Pierre Aupilardjuk

Inuit. Born 1961, Naujaat (Repulse Bay), Northwest Territories, Canada
Lives and works in Kangiqliniq (Rankin Inlet), Nunavut, Canada

Giving Without Receiving, 2016

Aupilardjuk brings his Inuit knowledge and family history to his practice as a ceramic artist. This work is inspired by a family story. His parents nearly starved when a priest took their qulliq (a seal oil lamp used for heat and cooking) without reciprocating in kind. The outstretched arms holding the lamp contrast eerily with the outsized grasping hand emerging from the base of the figure, suggesting the tensions between contrasting world views inherent in colonial relationships.

Siwa Mgoboza

Hlubi. Born 1993, Cape Town, South Africa
Lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa

The Ultrabeam, 2017

isiShweshwe (Three Cats Cotton) fabric, glass beads, tulle and cotton thread. National Gallery of Canada. Purchased 2020 © Siwa Mgoboza, courtesy Matter Gallery Photo: NGC

The Ultrabeam is part of Mgoboza’s creation of the fictional utopian world of “Africadia.” The richly patterned textiles, traditionally worn by women, were brought to Africa from India via Dutch trade routes by German settlers. “Africadia” subverts the notion of binaries, and invites fluid readings of race, gender, class and nation.

Tribal Women Artists Cooperative – Maintaining our Traditions

Àbadakone – What is Performance Art?

Àbadakone – What is Performance Art?

Ikumagialiit [Those that need fire]

Sayo Ogasawara – Preserving our Language and Roots

Hannah Claus – A Relationship with the Viewer

Mata Aho – The Stories of Women

Joar Nango - A social gathering space

Joar Nango – A social gathering space

Jordan Bennett – Under the Stars

Featured
Artists
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Barry Ace • Brian Adams • Leonce Raphael Agbodjélou • Joi T. Arcand • Shuvinai Ashoona • Pierre Aupilardjuk • Pierre Aupilardjuk & Shary Boyle • Rebecca Belmore • Jordan Bennett • Catherine Blackburn • Inger Blix Kvammen • Dempsey Bob • Edgar Calel • Manuel Chavajay • Hannah Claus • Dana Claxton • Melissa Cody • Ruth Cuthand • Thirza Cuthand • Mique’l Dangeli & Nick Dangeli • Dayna Danger • Jeneen Frei Njootli • Maureen Gruben • Helen Haig-Brown & Gwaai Edenshaw • Marja Helander • Sky Hopinka • Maria Hupfield • Taiye Idahor • Ursula Johnson • Eleng Luluan • Balu Jivya Mashe • Mata Aho Collective • Siwa Mgoboza • Dylan Miner • Tracey Moffatt • Caroline Monnet • Peter Morin • Zanele Muholi • Joar Nango • Marianne Nicolson • Eko Nugroho • Sayo Ogasawara • Qudus Onikeku • Inga-Wiktoria Påve & Anders Sunna • Fernando Poyón • Fredrik Prost • Skeena Reece • Peter Robinson • Evgeniy Salinder • Sarah Sense • Skawennati • Ningiukulu Teevee • Joseph Tisiga • Tribal Women Artists Cooperative • Lucy Tulugarjuk • Rajesh Chaitya Vangad & Gauri Gill • Laakkuluk Williamson Bathory, Jamie Griffiths, Cris Derksen & Christine Tootoo • Will Wilson • Lisa Hageman Yahgujanaas

Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel

Virtual NGC

Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel – Exhibition Opening

Eji Ekidòmagak “Àbadakone”

The Meaning Behind Àbadakone | Continuous Fire