WATER EVENT
Yoko Ono
1971 / 2020

For this instruction work, Yoko Ono invited six local Indigenous artists to create, or choose, a water container. Ono’s contribution of water completes the sculpture.   

Invited artists: Judy Anderson, seth cardinal dodginghorse, Faye Heavyshield, Kablusiak, Jessie Ray Short, Adrian Stimson

In 1971, as part of Ono’s first museum exhibition THIS IS NOT HERE at the Emerson Museum, Syracuse, NY, Ono invited people ranging from artists and musicians to produce a water sculpture that she would work on as well, establishing a unity between artists. The piece was titled WATER EVENT and in that first iteration she invited 120 participants including the likes of Andy Warhol, Alison Knowles, Sara Seagull, Takahiko Iimura, and Richard Hamilton.

When Contemporary Calgary was tasked with extending Ono’s invitation to a new group of artists for this current iteration of WATER EVENT, we immediately knew that it should reflect the enormous significance water has played in our community. When considering the long history and impact of the Bow and Elbow rivers to the Indigenous populations past and present, it seemed best to invite artists for whom that connection would resonate in their collaboration with Yoko.

Contemporary Calgary is honoured and grateful to present the water sculptures of six local Indigenous artists—Adrian Stimson, Faye HeavyShield, Jessie Ray Short, Judy Anderson, Kablusiak, and seth cardinal dodginghorse, on display at the Gallery from September 17, 2020– January 31, 2021.

About the Artists

LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

In the spirit of respect and truth, Contemporary Calgary acknowledges the traditional territories of the people of the Treaty 7 region in Southern Alberta, which includes the Blackfoot Confederacy (comprising the Siksika, Piikani, and Kainai First Nations), as well as the Tsuut’ina First Nation, and the Stoney Nakoda (including the Chiniki, Bearspaw, and Wesley First Nations). The City of Calgary is also home to Métis Nation of Alberta, Region III. We also acknowledge that Contemporary Calgary’s building is situated on land immediately adjacent to the Bow River that has shaped this land and its people for generations.