Beardy Ball!

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After the Cathy Mattes presentation, BUSH gallery headed to a Jackson Beardy "Peace and Harmony" Memorial Mural to play some basketball. Jackson Beardy was a part of the Woodland School of Art and the Indian Group of Seven.  Jackson Beardy was born in Garden Hill Reserve in Island Lake, Manitoba, and survived the Portage Residential School. Jackson Beardy's two "Peace and Harmony" murals were completed in 1985 the year following his death on two walls of the Indigenous Family Centre (where we were playing) was actually originally painted by ninth grade art students from R.B. Russel Vocational High School, the local high school just a couple blocks away from the mural. For more info see: http://themuralsofwinnipeg.com/Mpages/index.php?action=gotomural&muralid=324 

It was really wonderful to be able to honour the land's art ancestors and look at a beautiful mural while doing so. The facilitators even asked me to be a part of the game as the referee* and bought me a shirt from the Bay**.  However, my conditions for being referee was that the Space Jam theme song had to be played at least once, so of course I had to make a playlist with Space Jam featured five times (linked below). During the game, one of the staff at the Indigenous Family Centre came out to greet us and later gave us all some popsicles! It was so nice to play some basketball and hang out by the murals. Joseph, the art elder and a participating artist sang hey hey, a song he's been teaching us during the Summer Institute using the basketball pounding against the concrete for the rhythm instead of a drum. We played HORSE which is a basketball game where each team raced to spell out "HORSE" by getting a letter every time the ball landed through the hoop. The facilitators thought it would be nice to spell out BUFFALO, but as a Winnipeg Local™, I had to remind them that BISON would be more accurate. I'm so glad I got to be a part of the Beardy Ball BUSH Basketball game. There are so many beautiful murals around Winnipeg, go check them and the Jackson Beardy Mural out and play a game of basketball! Honour your land ancestors, don't forget to wear sunscreen, and drink plenty of water!

* I don't know any of the rules to basketball and I DO take bribes

** Notice the comparisons between the Hudson's Bay Company as historically colonial and enforcing made up rules and a referee who is also making up the rules because they don't know how to play basketball !!

bskt ball club playlist

The artists customized their sports jerseys which will be on display this Friday, August 24, 2018 at the Open Studio Party! More details HERE (facebook event link). Photos by Theo Sims & me.

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                             Joseph with his popsicle!