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Artist to give performance on Indigenous land issues at Okanagan gallery

Vernon-based artist Mariel Belanger will be gracing the stage at the Kelowna Art Gallery on Thursday
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Mariel Belanger will perform at the Kelowna Art Gallery Thursday, July 25, 6 p.m. (Contributed)

Vernon-based artist Mariel Belanger will be gracing the stage at the Kelowna Art Gallery for a performance centred on Indigenous laws about the land on Thursday.

In a multimedia performance called Illegal: Let Us Live, the Indigenous artist takes on topics relating to colonial imposition, forced displacement and diaspora.

Belanger describes the audio and visual performance as a vehicle for “telling our intergenerational truths.”

She moves the story forward as Mother Earth, outlining tensions that exist between contemporary Indigenous relationships that stem from colonial patriarchy, according to a Monday release.

The performance—scripted by the late First Nations writer Greg Younging who passed away on May 3, 2019—will be held alongside Her Body Will Remember, an exhibition co-created by Belanger along with artists Tsēmā Igharas and Tiffany Shaw-Collinge.

The exhibition will run at the Kelowna Art Gallery until September 8.

READ MORE: Vernon artist featured at Kelowna exhibit

READ MORE: Collaborative Kelowna effort to showcase historic Indigenous children’s art

Hailing from the northern part of the Syilx Okanagan Nation, Belanger has dedicated herself to the growth of interdisciplinary performance arts, using it as a means to “engage Indigenous community, language, and culture.”

Her latest piece explores themes of belonging among First Nations people today.

Those interested in attending Illegal: Let Us Live on Thursday, July 25, 6 p.m. can RSVP by emailing info@kelownaartgallery.com or calling 250-762-2226.


Brendan Shykora
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Brendan Shykora

About the Author: Brendan Shykora

I started as a carrier at the age of 8. In 2019 graduated from the Master of Journalism program at Carleton University.
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