Vernon-based artist Mariel Belanger will be gracing the stage at the Kelowna Art Gallery for a performance centred on Indigenous laws about the land on Thursday.
In a multimedia performance called Illegal: Let Us Live, the Indigenous artist takes on topics relating to colonial imposition, forced displacement and diaspora.
Belanger describes the audio and visual performance as a vehicle for “telling our intergenerational truths.”
She moves the story forward as Mother Earth, outlining tensions that exist between contemporary Indigenous relationships that stem from colonial patriarchy, according to a Monday release.
The performance—scripted by the late First Nations writer Greg Younging who passed away on May 3, 2019—will be held alongside Her Body Will Remember, an exhibition co-created by Belanger along with artists Tsēmā Igharas and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge.
The exhibition will run at the Kelowna Art Gallery until September 8.
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Hailing from the northern part of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, Belanger has dedicated herself to the growth of interdisciplinary performance arts, using it as a means to “engage Indigenous community, language, and culture.”
Her latest piece explores themes of belonging among First Nations people today.
Those interested in attending Illegal: Let Us Live on Thursday, July 25, 6 p.m. can RSVP by emailing info@kelownaartgallery.com or calling 250-762-2226.
