Aboriginal interpretations showcased in painting and dance

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The grand opening for a Children's Exhibition was held in Toronto at Metro Hall on March 4.

The evening gave parents, teachers and others a chance to view some of the work that students from six schools in the Toronto District School Board, including First Nations Elementary School, had been doing during the past two weeks.

All Things Are Connected - A City-Wide Celebration of Aboriginal Perspectives was a program developed by the school board's visual arts department to explore less-known forms of teaching with art.

Each of the six schools involved in the exploration offers Native language classes or has an attending Aboriginal population, explained Mervi Salo, instructional leader for the board's visual arts department.

She said this exhibit also allowed students to connect teachings they have in the classroom to those shared by Aboriginal artists.

One of experiences the students had was at the Gardiner Museum of Ceramic Art, where they built clay animals. Another was with Red Pepper Spectacle, where the students first listened to traditional stories and then were asked to tell their own stories with the aid of shadow puppets.

Debajehmujig Theatre Group worked with high school students who were interested in expressing themselves through movement and paintings.

This particular group, headed by Chris Wemigwans and Bruce Naokwegijig, showcased their work during a 20-minute drama at the grand opening.

With a circle of paintings of trees, water or fire, depending upon what each student chose, the students were able then to take what was on the canvas and express it through their own movements.

"It is amazing to see how these kids have changed from when we started doing this," said Wemigwans, who added that during some of the other exercises held over the last couple weeks students sometimes broke down and cried as they began to connect to themselves.