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Little fires burn in gallery exhibit

The latest exhibition at Two Rivers Gallery's is iskocîsa (little fires), featuring stop motion animation and sets by Michif artist Amanda Strong.
Amanda Strong Bildaaban
This is a scene from Biidaaban - The Dawn Comes, a stop motion animation film by Michif artist Amanda Strong, whose exhibit is at Two Rivers Gallery until Jan. 3.

The latest exhibition at Two Rivers Gallery's is iskocîsa (little fires), featuring stop motion animation and sets by Michif artist Amanda Strong. 

The exhibition showcases four stop motion animation films including Biidaaban - The Dawn Comes, How to Steal a Canoe, Flood and Four Faces of the Moon, along with the intricate sets used to create them. 

The films focus on Indigenous history, culture, language and knowledge. This is the biggest exhibit of Strong’s stop motion sets and films.

The iskocîsa (little fires) exhibit brings both process and final production into the gallery.

Guests will see sets, puppets and props used to create the stories in one part of the exhibit, then patrons can watch the films.

The films and sets include powerful characters like the gender-fluid youth named Biidaaban and an ancient shape shifter named Sabe, who harvests maple syrup in an urban area.

How to Steal a Canoe sees Kew, a young woman, rescue a canoe from a museum to return it to the lake it was meant to be with.

During Four Faces of the Moon, an Indigenous photographer, a self-portrait artist, travels through time to witness the impact of the railways, the slaughter of the buffalo and the impact of colonial land policies.

“Through acts of reclamation and collaboration we are telling our own stories, in our own voice, lifting up and empowering the future of Indigenous storytelling in film,” Strong said.

She is the owner, director and producer of Spotted Fawn Productions Inc. where there is a large collaborative team that comes together to create each project.

"Thousands of hours and pieces are involved, with many loving hands, to make the works move and come to life," Strong added.

The iskocîsa (little fires) exhibit is on display at the Two Rivers Gallery until Jan. 3.