Art installation honouring residential school survivors on display in Kelowna

A large art installation standing as a national monument symbolizing ongoing reconciliation is in Kelowna for the next few months.

The Witness Blanket is a large-scale installation by artist and master carver Carey Newman, inspired by a woven blanket.

The Kelowna Art Gallery is exhibiting a 40-foot-long reproduction of The Witness Blanket, constructed from cedar with photographic panels to represent the original artifacts, according to the art gallery’s website.

The Witness Blanket stands as a national monument to recognize the atrocities of the Indian residential school era, honour the children, and symbolize ongoing reconciliation, according to the gallery.

The original piece is made from hundreds of items reclaimed from Indian residential school survivors and their families, band offices, churches, government, friendship centres, and other cultural organizations, which were borrowed from 77 separate sites across Canada.

The Witness Blanket is an exhibition based on the art of Carey Newman and was developed in collaboration with, and circulated by, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

It will be on display until April 10 at the gallery. For more information, visit the gallery’s website.

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