This is being...opressed
Powerful exhibit shows the plight of North American Aboriginals
Kristen Pauch-Nolin

Public art takes many forms, from the traditional statues that commemorate politicians to huge installation pieces that transform the existing landscape. Highly publicized pieces such as Christo’s wrapped buildings and Jenny Holtzer’s LED running narratives have each captured public and media attention by taking art out of the gallery and installing it in the public realm.

In this tradition, American artist Edgar Heap of Birds (Hock E Aye Vi) creates a dialogue with his audience directly, posting his art in the spaces they inhabit. Word-based, the work explores the essential difference between Native American and Anglo-American cultures, and it is presented on billboards and signs installed in both urban areas and green spaces.

Heap of Birds is described by critics as one of the most significant artists in the Native American self-determination and self-definition movement, and his exhibition Remembering in America provides Winnipeg audiences with an opportunity to see samples of work from the artist’s distinguished 30-year career.

Including both works on paper and a selection of metal signs, the text-based pieces demonstrate the power of language.

The newest work, 2005’s This Is Being, includes a series of 16 monoprints that are hung along the gallery wall in a precise straight line. Each piece features collections of words that are hand-printed in white and are set against a boldly coloured background. Vertically oriented, the texts appear poetic and poignant, offering phrases such as “come, to, this, exhale, trade, inhale” and “Jupiter, star, moon trees, seas, sky.”

Similarly effective, 1987’s American Policy presents a running series of handwritten texts on paper. In this case, the words are scrawled drawn with a wavering line to create the illusion of movement or fury. Sayings such as “Death from the top,” “Wasted strength” and “Lions share misery” shout out, grabbing and holding on to the viewer’s attention.

Curator Steve Loft describes Heap of Birds as an artist who has “by the example of his work and his extensive travel, encouraged indigenous artists to build their own lives in the way they think it should be.”

Similarly, Loft says the artist is working to “turn the bias of Anglo-American language in on itself to uncover the deeply embedded racism of his white audiences — and the injustices of their forebears.”

Native Host is a series of metal signs that were originally installed in numerous green spaces and parks throughout North America, including in Vancouver. The pieces most clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of Heap of Birds’ line of attack. Each work visually complies with the esthetic of standard city postings and displays texts such as “British Columbia (written in reverse) today your host is Musqueam,” reminding visitors who originally inhabited the land.

In addition to the gallery installation, a billboard with Heap of Birds’ signature text has been installed at the corner of Smith and Ellice. Quoting a passage from the American Declaration of Independence, the piece serves as a stark reminder that, despite social advancement, the foundational documents that have defined Western society are inherently racist, referring to indigenous people as “merciless Indian Savages.”