Frank Shebageget - REVEAL Indigenous Art Award Laureate

Frank Shebageget - photo courtesy of the artist

Frank Shebageget receives the 2017 REVEAL Indegenous Art Award.

As part of its plans to increase support for Indigenous arts practice, The Hnatyshyn Foundation launched REVEAL Indigenous Art Awards to honour Indigenous Canadian artists working in all artistic disciplines. The comprehensive one-time program of awards and promotional activities, including 150 cash awards of $10,000 each awarded in 2017, will fuel the creation of new artistic works and leave a lasting cultural legacy.

The Awards are intended to recognize emerging and established Indigenous artists working in traditional or contemporary practices. The awards will be given in six artistic categories including dance, music, theatre, literature, film/video (media arts), and visual arts/fine craft.

A special event honouring the artists was held in Winnipeg on May 22nd, 2017.

Frank Shebageget

"My work in sculpture and installation reflect an enduring interest in the geography of the Canadian Shield."

My practice, which draws on the aesthetics of everyday materials, exploits the tense relationships between production, consumption and the economics of beauty, through the repetition of forms, labour-intensive processes, and the play between quasi-industrial and handcrafted methods.

Lodge consists of 1,692 handmade basswood model airplanes, specifically the De Havilland “Beaver”, which takes on the overall shape of a beaver lodge. Best known as a recognizable piece of Canadiana, the Beaver float plane is also a vital part of native culture. They continue to provide transportation to and from remote Aboriginal communities, and in many ways symbolize changes in Aboriginal social structure and economies. The piece combines references to Canada’s aviation history as well as its colonial policies, while balancing the historical and contemporary relevance of these planes to both native and non-native identity in Canada.

Frank Shebageget is an Anishnabe visual artist living in Ottawa.

www.fshebageget.com