Messages from the tmxʷulaʔxʷ
and the sqəlxʷɬcawt Renewed

JANUARY 24, 2020 TO MARCH 15, 2020
Main Gallery

ABOUT

way’ lim ləmt (hello, thank you) for joining us to share in these visual and media reflections on remembering to listen with your whole being to the land, all living things, the ancestors, and the people. Respecting the renewal of n’sylixcen, the language of the land and the people in unceded syilx territory where we continue our cultural lives, practice, and art ways since the beginning of time.  It is with great honour and excitement that we are presenting works from our students, alumni, faculty, and invited artists of many Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island who have ties to the En’owkin Centre.

The En’owkin Center is an Indigenous post-secondary arts and cultural centre located on the Penticton Indian Reserve. The NATIONAL ABORIGINAL PROFESSIONAL ARTIST TRAINING PROGRAM is one of many innovative programs housed at En’owkin. This two-year certificate program includes storytelling, media arts, performance arts, painting, sculpture, installation art and marketing. The focus of the National Aboriginal Professional Artist Training Program (NAPAT) is to protect and preserve Indigenous world-view and arts expressions within traditional heritage, utilizing interdisciplinary works with contemporary practice. The NAPAT program was developed to support the learning of how to “revitalize” traditional art forms into contemporary practice. It is a professional training opportunity that assists the artist to interpret traditional forms of art in today’s context. This program as well as the Foundations in Indigenous Art Program, which students can also focus on creative writing as well as the other arts, creates many opportunities for the artists to collaborate and integrate many different mediums in their studies. The FIFA program is possible with our partnership agreement with the University of Victoria.  We are very excited to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of this connection in 2020.

There are many programs like NAPAT at the En’owkin Centre that foster our partnerships with other important institutions like the Nicola Valley Institute of Technology, and the University of British Columbia.  Without the foundational n’sylixcen – Okanagan Language programs and Indigenous Studies courses that foster these partnerships as well the NAPAT program would not have nearly the resources to draw from for inspiration and incentive while “revitalizing” connections to many Indigenous communities, languages, and traditions throughout North America and the world.

In light of celebrating our 20th year connection in the arts we would like to travel down memory lane and mention a few great artists from many disciplines who graced our centre with a connection to En’owkin. Bracken Hanuse Corlett, Kym Gouchie, Anona Kampe, Dean Louis, Larry Monroe, Lenny Pierre, John Rombough, Bear Sam, and James Wedzin just to name a few. We have been delighted to have all these folks and more enrich the En’owkin community with inspiration and warmth.

Dr. Michelle Jack, Head of the Visual Arts Department at the En’owkin Centre