Award-winning Mi’kmaq artist’s public art installation unveiled at Zatzman Sportsplex (2 photos)

NEWS RELEASE
HALIFAX REGIONAL MUNICIPALITY
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The Zatzman Sportsplex is just days away from its official opening, and already the excitement is building with last night’s unveiling of a new public art installation for the facility.

“This truly remarkable Jordan Bennett piece underscores the importance of continued investment in public art,” said Halifax Mayor Mike Savage. “The Zatzman Sportsplex will soon become a recreation and cultural hub for our community and this dynamic public art will add significantly to the user experience.”

Award-winning Mi’kmaq artist Jordan Bennett is the creative mind behind the work of art, having been selected by the municipality to design, create, and install the $200,000 public art piece at the newly updated facility.

The exhibit is titled Pjila’si (Welcome in Mi’kmaq) and incorporates various metals, traditional Mikmaq motifs and colour to create a piece that explores the various histories, traditions and contributions to sport in Mi’kmaki, such as the canoe, hockey, basketball, and more.

This exhibit makes use of aluminum, oak, walnut, ash and maple wood, 3M road sign sheeting, and locally sourced labradorite. The new art installation aims to inspire those who visit the Zatzman Sportsplex to feel welcomed, supported, and encouraged while engaging in their active and healthy lives inside and outside these walls. 

The art project has two components. The primary focus was on the development of a signature, wall-mounted feature inside the new main entrance. The secondary focus is a design application for the 1,500 square feet of interior window space that will be prominently displayed for the enjoyment of those walking past the facility.

“It has been an honour to work on this project over the last year,” said Bennett. “From the moment of putting initial ideas down on paper, to the final touches of the finished work.

“Planning such a large piece takes a huge team of creatives, people who believe in your vision, talented makers and creators to bring all the elements together. I hope that people of K'jipuktuk and visitors to this new complex enjoy this addition to a growing representation of Mi'kmaq and other Indigenous artists in public spaces.”

Halifax Regional Council approved a policy in 2008 that stipulates one per cent of the total construction costs of a new or renovated publicly accessible municipal facility will be invested in public art.

ABOUT THE ARTIST:

Jordan Bennett, Mi’kmaq- Stephenville Crossing Ktaqamkuk (Newfoundland) BFA, MFA

Jordan's ongoing practice utilizes painting, sculpture, video, installation and sound to explore land, language, the act of visiting, familial histories and challenging colonial perceptions of indigenous histories, stereotypes and presence with a focus on exploring Mi’kmaq and Beothuk visual culture of Ktaqamkuk.

In the past 10 years Jordan has participated in over 75 group and solo exhibitions nationally and internationally. He has been the recipient of several awards and honours, a Hnatyshan Foundation REVEAL award, presented with the 2014 Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council’s Artist of the Year and named as one of the artists in the 2014 Blouin ARTINFO's Top 30 under 30 in Canada.

Most notably he has been long listed for the 2015 and 2016 Sobey Art Award, and was short listed for the 2018 awards. Jordan is currently partnered with IOTA: STUDIOS, and working on several projects including various artistic collaborations, public commissions and exhibitions, including a public art commission for the Zatzman Sportsplex in Dartmouth, NS and a solo exhibition at the Art Gallery of Nova Scotia. 
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