The USask collaborative art project celebrating indigenous knowledge reaches the final step – News

In August 2020, a group including moore, Hyggen, Bonny and others gathered in a secure outdoor area to complete the transformation of the slate steps in one weekend. The carvings were dusted, dried, glue residues from their earlier life were sanded off as stairs and the slate was oiled.

Bonny called this final step “a beautiful transformation” and noted that the gray-white surface of freshly carved slate is created by the reflection of light from small, loose particles. However, after oiling, the edges acquire the same hue and patina as the worn and smoothed surfaces, and the carving is reconfigured as part of the rock rather than a note scratched on the surface.

“This is the same effect you see in weathered petroglyphs, where natural weathering patinas have removed traces of loose material so that images and messages seem to sink into the stone or appear to rise organically from it,” she said.

As a geologist, Bonny said it was fun sharing information about the earth’s geological evolution, schist formation, and the material properties of slate. As an artist and writer who lives in Saskatchewan – where human stories have long been told through arranged stones, petroglyphs and pictograms that are more than 10,000 years old – she believes “in this collaborative project to advance stone as a living and temporal medium, instead of being a static medium for monuments is an organic step towards the reconciliation of common contractual spaces. “

“It is very meaningful to bring indigenous languages ​​and the names of the moons that guide seasonal activities and storytelling traditions onto campus through the medium of stone, which has already been shaped and reshaped by student movements,” said Bonny.

“Students and staff who joined us in carving have a physical connection to the project, but also a tangible connection to some very ancient traditions that honor the spirituality and importance of the stone to various human cultures over time. I hope that this project will convey a committed and lived commitment to incorporating indigenous knowledge into our campus practices, and I hope that it will also raise awareness of indigenous languages ​​and the role of syllables in historical language preservation and contemporary language revitalization. “