NIC and Emily Carr University are pleased to present internationally recognized Aboriginal artist Sonny Assu as part of NIC’s Winter 2017 Artist Talk Series.
Assu will be speaking at NIC’s Comox Valley campus Tuesday, March 7, starting at 12 pm. Admission is free and everyone is invited.
Raised in North Delta, BC, Assu discovered his Kwakwaka’wakw heritage when he was eight years old. This discovery became his art’s conceptual focal point.
"The impetus behind my work is to shed light on the dark, hidden history of Canada's actions/inactions against the Indigenous people,” says Assu. “Even though the subject matter can be heavy at times, I try and find avenues of compassion and humour to foster a dialogue; to broaden people’s understanding of the realities of being an Indigenous person in Canada."
Assu graduated from Emily Carr in 2002 and received the university’s distinguished alumni award in 2006. He received the BC Creative Achievement Award in First Nations art in 2011, as well as many others. His work appears in various public and private collections across Canada and internationally including, the National Gallery of Canada, Seattle Art Museum and the Museum of Anthropology at UBC, as well as a current exhibit at the Vancouver Art Gallery.
His works include Reconciliation, a public project commissioned for the City of Vancouver, as well as a solo exhibition last year at the Campbell River Art Gallery.
He currently lives and works in unceded Ligwilda’xw territory (Campbell River).
NIC’s Winter 2017 Artist Talk Series takes place in the Stan Hagen Theatre at the Comox Valley campus. Upcoming series artists include Vida Simon and Jack Stanley (March 14) and Rita Mckeough (March 21).
For more information, visit www.nic.bc.ca.
Photo caption: Hear internationally known artist Sonny Assu Tuesday, March 7 at NIC’s Stan Hagen Theatre, starting at noon. Admission is free and everyone is welcome.
Media Contact
Christiana Wiens
Media Liaison, North Island College
O. 250-334-5280 | M. 250-218-4097
christiana.wiens@nic.bc.ca
