Joi T. Arcand: ᐯᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐁᐊᑎᐦᑌᑭ ᑕᑿᐦᐃᒥᓈᓇ (pêh-pêyak ômisi isi ê-atihtêki takwahiminâna
Joi T. Arcand is an artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, Treaty 6 Territory, currently residing in Ottawa, Ontario. Encompassing installation, photography, and design, her practice enacts a visionary and subversive reclamation and indigenization of public spaces using Cree language and syllabics. Installed at the end of the corridor outside Marquee Gallery on Level 3, the phrase ᐯᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐁᐊᑎᐦᑌᑭ ᑕᑿᐦᐃᒥᓈᓇ appears in cahkipēhikana (syllabics) as an LED channel sign, its bright glow beckoning visitors onward.
The phrase is drawn from the chapter “Reminiscences of Muskeg Lake” in kôhkominawak otâcimowiniwâwa / Our Grandmothers’ Lives as Told in Their Own Words, a collection of personal stories from the daily lives of seven nêhiyaw-iskwêwak (nêhiyaw women) spanning the past century. In a conversation between Alpha Lafond, Arcand’s great-aunt by marriage, and Rosa Longneck, Lafond recalls the words of her relative, Julia Arcand: “Just like this, as one by one the chokecherries are ripening.” The ripening of chokecherries in August marked both the passage of time and the cyclical return of the seasons. For the kôhkomwak (grandmothers), attentiveness to the land is itself a form of knowledge—nêhiyawîhtwȃwin, the Cree way—yet they note that chokecherries now ripen earlier, reflecting the effects of environmental change.
A language learner herself, Arcand describes nêhiyawêwin as present everywhere on the land, resonating through place names, plants, animals, and people. For her, working in these territories means engaging with language as an essential part of place. She sees the beauty of syllabics as a powerful entry point for learning more about the language and the history of its written form.
Event/Exhibition meta autogenerated block.
When
November 14, 2025 – December 6, 2026
Where
Corridor outside Marquee Gallery (Level 3)
Carried by rivers, held by lands
ᐯᐦᐯᔭᐠ ᐆᒥᓯ ᐃᓯ ᐁᐊᑎᐦᑌᑭ ᑕᑿᐦᐃᒥᓈᓇ (pêh-pêyak ômisi isi ê-atihtêki takwahiminâna) is presented as part of Carried by rivers, held by lands, a multi-year project that convenes a group of artists with diverse practices living and working across the northern hemisphere, from urban centres to remote, rural, and reserve communities. In response to its location on the banks of kisiskâciwani-sîpiy (the South Saskatchewan River), _Carried by rivers, held by lands _considers the museum’s connections to multiple elsewheres.
Coalescing around land- and water-based livelihoods and knowledges, _Carried by rivers, held by lands _foregrounds the critical interdependencies and specificities that define our shared present and collective future, particularly considering the urgencies of the climate crisis and the inheritances and status of colonial capitalism. Rather than a group exhibition, it is an exercise in creating connections and building alliances between artists, artworks, and locations over time—an attempt to create a context across distances, based on affinities, shared concerns, and a belief in the importance of staying with the trouble.
Curatorial Team
Carried by rivers, held by lands is curated by Aileen Burns and Johan Lundh, Co-Executive Director and CEO, and Tarah Hogue, Adjunct Curator (Indigenous Art), Remai Modern, Saskatoon; and Maria Lind, Director, Kin Museum of Contemporary Art, Kiruna.
Artist
Joi T. Arcand is an artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, Treaty 6 Territory, currently residing in Ottawa, Ontario. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree with Great Distinction from the University of Saskatchewan in 2006. In 2018, Arcand was shortlisted for the prestigious Sobey Art Award.
Recent solo exhibitions include Central Art Garage (Ottawa, ON); College Art Galleries (Saskatoon, SK); ODD Gallery (Dawson City, Yukon); Mendel Art Gallery (Saskatoon); Wanuskewin Heritage Park (Saskatoon); Dunlop Art Gallery (Regina). Her work has been included in numerous group exhibitions, including Àbadakone at the National Gallery of Canada (Ottawa, ON) and INSURGENCE/RESURGENCE at the Winnipeg Art Gallery.
Arcand has been artist-in-residence at Wanuskewin Heritage Park (Saskatoon); OCAD University (Toronto); Plug-In Institute of Contemporary Art (Winnipeg); the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity; and Klondike Institute of Art and Culture (Dawson City, Yukon); and Harbourfront Centre (Toronto).
She was the co-founder of the Red Shift Gallery, a contemporary Indigenous art gallery in Saskatoon. She was founder and editor of the Indigenous art magazine, kimiwan (2012-2014). She has curated various exhibitions including Language of Puncture at Gallery 101 (Ottawa, 2017), and nākatēyimisowin, an outdoor mural exhibition in Ottawa. She recently completed a Bachelor of Arts in nêhiyawêwin from University nuhelotʼįne thaiyotsʼį nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills and is a member of the art and curatorial collective: Wolf Babe.
Carried by rivers, held by lands is generously supported by the Canada Council for the Arts.