Salish and Kootenai exhibit explores the worlds of human health and healing
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Chances are slim to none that a person who is being wheeled down the hospital hallway en route to surgery is thinking about anything other than the surgical equipment that is about to invade his or her body tissues.
Is this going to hurt? Did my physician get a good night’s rest? Will I be put under with anesthesia so that I won’t feel the pain? Will the surgery be a success?
These are everyday questions asked by everyday people who undergo everything from minor surgery to the most complex procedures. There’s no denying that it’s the operation that is on the minds of those who go under the knife.
But if you talk to artists whose livelihoods depend on the ability to heal through their artwork, there is a relationship between what happens in the operating room and what that person may experience outside of it. Moreover, there is an even greater synergy when it comes to the ability of artwork to act as a healing force in itself, a bridge to a better understanding in relationships among people of varying differences.
Tonight, at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center, members of the Salish and Kootenai Tribes will gather to kick off the exhibit, “Conversations With the Salish and Kootenai: In Celebration of Artworks by the Salish and Kootenai Tribal Confederation.”
The intent of the exhibit, according to the exhibit curator, is to “create a bridge in healing dialogue between all people.” The kickoff in Kalispell runs from 5 to 7 p.m.
“Even though this exhibit is coming from the Salish and Kootenai tribes, it’s an attempt at trying to create conversations and finding bonds with all human beings, so that we can live together in peace” said Patricia Stewart, an artist herself who will be running this particular exhibit, the first of its kind for the medical center.
Stewart, who has been a curator for other art openings, says this one is unique in its tribal connection. But what makes it particularly significant, she says, is that she’s actually had patients tell her that given the choice between “going under the knife or going through the colors of the hallway, they’d choose the colors.”
In the past, the center has hosted work by American Indians and other cultures, including the Blackfeet Tribe. But Stewart says this is the first time the medical complex will play host specifically to a tribal entity such as the Salish and Kootenai.
“We’ve done mixed exhibits ... Blackfeet, Salish as well as people from different backgrounds and cultures. But this is the first time we have decided to show the work of one tribe,” Stewart said, recognizing that the Salish and Kootenai are distinct on their own accords.
There will be works from a diverse element within the Salish and Kootenai. Stewart calls it “a reaching out” while “enjoying our differences.”
Included in the exhibit will be what Stewart describes as “exceptional beadwork” that will invariably place the emphasis where it belongs, on the Native American people.
“Our whole program at the medical center is that we have a very specific mission,” Stewart said. “And that is to combine the medical arts with the fine arts, for health and healing.”
Rob McDonald, communications director for the tribe, said the exhibit is a good thing.
“We’re always pleased when we get an offer to share our story in a public venue such as this,” McDonald said. “Art is just another avenue to explain our complex history of the people’s history, governmental history and our connection to this land and water.”
McDonald believes the fact the exhibit is in Kalispell offers some unique opportunities.
“I hope it fills a gap that our neighbors to the north — Flathead County —might have about us. I often wonder how much our neighbors understand us.”
That understanding, he added, entails recognizing the diversity of the confederated tribes, as well as recognizing certain inherent problems such as educating Indian youth.
In addition to the artwork, tonight’s opening includes poetry, dance, music, photography and color. There will be performances by Salish children from Arlee, from kindergarten to high school that will consist of singing in the Salish language. There will also be a drumming performance as well as food.
The exhibit will run Aug. 19, 2010 through Jan. 10, 2011.
