Honouring the Truth Reconciling for the Future

338 • Truth & Reconciliation Commissionwere collaborative efforts that also engaged Survivors, artists, and curatorial staff inrelated public education initiatives, including workshops, symposia, and public dialoguesbased on the exhibits. 212A significant number of the statements gathered by the Commission also cameto us in artistic formats. Some Survivors said that although it hurt too much to telltheir story in the usual way, they had been able to find their voice instead by writing apoem, a song, or a book. Some made a video or audio recording, offered photographs,or produced a theatre performance piece or a film. Others created traditional blankets,quilts, carvings, or paintings to depict residential school experiences, to celebratethose who survived them, or to commemorate those who did not. Lasting publicmemory of the schools has therefore been produced not only through oral testimonies,but also through this wide range of artistic expressions. The arts have opened upnew and critical space for Survivors, artists, curators, and public audiences to explorethe complexities of “truth,” “healing,” and “reconciliation.”The Commission funded or supported several arts-related projects. Early in itsmandate, the trc sponsored the “Living Healing Quilt Project,” which was organizedby Anishinaabe quilter Alice Williams from Curve Lake First Nation in Ontario.Women Survivors and intergenerational Survivors from across the country createdindividual quilt blocks depicting their memories of residential schools. These werethen stitched together into three quilts, Schools of Shame, Child Prisoners, and CrimesAgainst Humanity.The quilts tell a complex story of trauma, loss, isolation, recovery, healing, andhope through women’s eyes. The sewing skills taught to young Aboriginal girls in theresidential schools and passed along to their daughters and granddaughters are nowused to stitch together a counter-narrative. 213 This project also inspired the “HealingQuilt Project,” which linked education and art. At the Manitoba National Event, asan expression of reconciliation, the Women’s and Gender Studies and AboriginalGovernance departments at the University of Winnipeg gave the trc a quilt createdby students and professors as part of their coursework. Through classroom readings,dialogue, and art, they created a space for learning about, and reflecting on, the residentialschool history and legacy in the context of reconciliation. 214A report commissioned by the trc, “Practicing Reconciliation: A CollaborativeStudy of Aboriginal Art, Resistance and Cultural Politics,” was based on the findings ofa one-year research project. Working with Survivors, artists, and curators, a multidisciplinaryteam of researchers examined the general question of how artistic practicecontributes to the reconciliation process. The research was done through a series ofinterviews, workshops, artist residencies, planning sessions, symposia, artistic incubations,publications, and online learning platforms. The report reveals the depth andpotential of arts-based approaches to reconciliation.