E R I C    G O T T E S M A N

WE'RE TALKING ABOUT LIFE AND CULTURE
(In collaboration with Wendy Ewald)

From a press release issued by the Innu Nation:

For Immediate Release
Contacts:  Donna Paddon, Innu Band Council, phone number, email
                        Wendy Ewald, phone number, email
                        Eric Gottesman, 1-415-235-1457, ejg2@yahoo.com

Public Photography Exhibition About Innu Life and Culture
Installed in Sheshatshiu and Goose Bay

September 1, 2009.   We’re Talking About Life and Culture/Eshku Nitshassitenan, an installation of the Innu Public Art Project, was mounted this week in Sheshatshiu and Goose Bay, Labrador, Canada. 

The exhibition includes 22 large photographic banners hung in public spaces, including the new Innu school and the arena in Sheshatshiu, and the Five Wing Military Base and the airport in Goose Bay.  The images were taken in Labrador and are printed with text that reflects on changes in Innu life and culture.  The photographs were made mostly by young Innu people in 1969 and from 2007-2009.  The words were added to the photographs by Innu people of all ages in 2009.

Several of the images were contributed by Zak Hajjaoui, a 16-year-old photographer from Sheshatshiu, who noted that the images came directly from the community.  Discussing the media’s representation of the Innu, Hajjaoui commented, “They need to actually ask an Innu person who’s been there, seen it all, done it all, and actually knows what’s going on in the community. Not just from CBC news and NTV. You have to ask us.  We have to tell it from our heart, not a man with a microphone in his hand.”

In 2008, there was an exhibition of old and new photographs by Innu people and others at the Labrador Interpretation Center in North West River.  From these pictures, the Innu community selected images to be made into banners and decided where these banners should be hung. Visitors to the exhibit contributed their photographs of the Innu to a growing archive.  The Innu community will decide whether these banners should travel to other places.

“The pictures woke people up,” Innu elder, Elizabeth Penashue, said. “It is very important to see these pictures because Innu people have almost lost everything.  We forget about what happened before.  We should get together and talk about what we are going to do about the old stuff.”

This installation continues an effort to archive photographs and films of Innu culture and to make this visual heritage accessible to the Innu and others.  If you have photos or stories to contribute to the Innu Picture Archive please email ejg2@yahoo.com.