Now open at the Abbe Museum in Bar Harbor, Maine, is Stitching Ourselves Together: Mi’kmaq Porcupine Quillwork, an exhibition that represents a collaboration between the museum and Wabanaki community members. Opened in June, Stitching Ourselves Together is told in a first-person perspective by Mi’kmaq artisans and culture keepers.
Melissa Peter-Paul (Mi’kmaq), Framed Quill Art, 2020, porcupine quill and birchbark
“When we, as Mi’kmaq people, are involved in the curation and narration of our own history we are able to correct the incomplete and often erroneous narratives assigned to our existence,” says community curator Jennifer Pictou (Mi’kmaq). “Academics have often misidentified the motifs represented in our quill art or applied their own experiences and beliefs to our imagery. This Euro-centric interpretation negates our Indigenous use of symbols, styles and patterns.”
Tara Francis (Mi’kmaq), Four Sisters Monarch, 2021, porcupine quill, birchbark, sweetgrass, sinew, deer leather and needle felted wool
Works in the show include numerous quilled boxes, as well as masks, purses and decorative wall hangings. A historic highlight is a Mi’kmaq quilled chair from sometime around the 1860s to 1890s. The object, beautifully designed and presented, is made of porcupine quill, birchbark, wood, metal, leather and fabric. A contemporary work that should delight museumgoers is a quilled monarch butterfly by Tara Francis (Mi’kmaq). Other Mi’kmaq artists are Margaret Pelletier, Melissa Peter-Paul and Vicky Sanipass.
The exhibition continues through January 2023.
Through January 2023
Stitching Ourselves Together: Mi’kmaq Porcupine Quillwork
Abbe Museum
26 Mt. Desert Street
Bar Harbor, ME 04609
(207) 288-3519
www.abbemuseum.org
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