yelákhwaˀ, Gardiner Ceramic Museum, 111 Queens Park, Toronto, ON
Excerpt from www.instagram.com/p/DIOuAlLv0jS/?img_index=1:
In fall 2023, the #GardinerMuseum announced our largest capital project in 20 years—a $15.5-million campaign to transform the visitor experience, guided by the principles of connectivity, access, and Indigeneity. The full-scale reimagining of our ground floor features the construction of the Gardiner’s first-ever gallery of Indigenous ceramics, highlighting pottery traditions of the Woodland and Great Lakes region, where the Museum is situated.
Designed by architect Chris Cornelius (Oneida) (@christcornelius) of studio:indigenous and curated by the Gardiner’s inaugural Curator of Indigenous Ceramics, Franchesca Hebert-Spence (@franchesca_hebertspence) (Anishinaabe Sagkeeng First Nation), the gallery will hold ceramic belongings and stories from time immemorial to the present day.
Today, we’re thrilled to reveal Chris Cornelius’ design and the intention behind it:
“The piece is called yelákhwaˀ (container – “one uses it to be in”) in the Oneida language. As a Haudenosaunee designer, I am using language to connect the physical object with the land. My intention was to create a vessel that is part of the larger museum experience but also acts as a container to present the Indigenous ceramics within it. These belongings are not archaeological artifacts of the past but a continuation of Indigenous knowledge and expression. It is my goal to be a good future ancestor. The designed objects I create, including this one, express a contemporary culture grounded in a timeless worldview.
yelákhwaˀ consists of a wooden frame that takes the shape of the vessel, and a copper mesh skin that acts as feathers. The transparent mesh conforms to the shape of the vessel’s body while revealing the contents within. The vessel contains a view of the sky via a video projection that compresses 24 hours into 20 minutes, changing the visitor’s experience each time they enter the space.”
yelákhwaˀ, Gardiner Ceramic Museum, 111 Queens Park, Toronto, ON
Excerpt from www.instagram.com/p/DIOuAlLv0jS/?img_index=1:
In fall 2023, the #GardinerMuseum announced our largest capital project in 20 years—a $15.5-million campaign to transform the visitor experience, guided by the principles of connectivity, access, and Indigeneity. The full-scale reimagining of our ground floor features the construction of the Gardiner’s first-ever gallery of Indigenous ceramics, highlighting pottery traditions of the Woodland and Great Lakes region, where the Museum is situated.
Designed by architect Chris Cornelius (Oneida) (@christcornelius) of studio:indigenous and curated by the Gardiner’s inaugural Curator of Indigenous Ceramics, Franchesca Hebert-Spence (@franchesca_hebertspence) (Anishinaabe Sagkeeng First Nation), the gallery will hold ceramic belongings and stories from time immemorial to the present day.
Today, we’re thrilled to reveal Chris Cornelius’ design and the intention behind it:
“The piece is called yelákhwaˀ (container – “one uses it to be in”) in the Oneida language. As a Haudenosaunee designer, I am using language to connect the physical object with the land. My intention was to create a vessel that is part of the larger museum experience but also acts as a container to present the Indigenous ceramics within it. These belongings are not archaeological artifacts of the past but a continuation of Indigenous knowledge and expression. It is my goal to be a good future ancestor. The designed objects I create, including this one, express a contemporary culture grounded in a timeless worldview.
yelákhwaˀ consists of a wooden frame that takes the shape of the vessel, and a copper mesh skin that acts as feathers. The transparent mesh conforms to the shape of the vessel’s body while revealing the contents within. The vessel contains a view of the sky via a video projection that compresses 24 hours into 20 minutes, changing the visitor’s experience each time they enter the space.”