Winyan (wee-yahn) is the Dakota word for “woman.” Read this article for free: Already have an account? To continue reading, please subscribe: * Winyan (wee-yahn) is the Dakota word for “woman.” Read unlimited articles for free today: Already have an account? Winyan (wee-yahn) is the Dakota word for “woman.
” It’s also the title of a major solo exhibition by local Dakota/Anishinaabe/Métis interdisciplinary artist Lita Fontaine opening today Friday at WAG-Qaumajuq. Curated by Marie-Anne Redhead, assistant curator of Indigenous and contemporary art at WAG-Qaumajuq, serves as both a celebration and reclamation of beauty as a tool — not of oppression, but of resistance and resilience. WAG-Qaumajuq Opening July 5 at 7 p.
m. Runs through Jan. 12, 2025 “Lita’s work has never shied away from reclaiming space, practice and ceremony.
She has always called into question cultural and hegemonic norms that attempted to exclude or ignore the presence of Indigenous women,” Redhead says. “For me, this exhibition is also about beauty as a methodology to combat the trauma of colonialism.” Dresses play a significant role in Fontaine’s artistic practice, whether it’s physical dresses or the pen/paint marker drawings from her 2024 (the Dakota word for “dress”) series.
Her mother sewed dresses, and so did her two-spirit sibling; her work is a reference to that tradition. Many of the dresses are decorated with clouds, flowers, strawberries and plants — motifs that .
