Beginning this week, Queen's University’s Stauffer Library is honoured to be hosting the Witness Blanket, a large-scale wooden art installation inspired by a woven blanket and created by master carver Carey Newman or Hayalthkin’geme (Ha-yalth-kingeme). The piece is on loan from the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and was first exhibited in 2015-2016. It was most recently on display at Nipissing University. 

The Witness Blanket is a symbol of resilience and reconciliation and is made up of hundreds of items reclaimed from residential schools, churches, government buildings, and traditional and cultural structures from across Canada. The Witness Blanket team collected over 880 objects from every province and territory in Canada. They travelled over 200,000 kilometres, visited 77 communities and met with more than 10,000 people. Every object in the Witness Blanket tells a story about specific experiences in different times and places. Together, they tell us about the sweeping history of the residential schools that operated between 1870 and 1996. 

The Witness Blanket will be housed in the Fireplace Reading Room on the second floor of Stauffer Library. This is the first time the exhibit will be at Queen’s, and it will be made available to anyone during regular library hours until the first week of June, coinciding with National Indigenous History Month in Canada. The Witness Blanket will travel to the Art Gallery of Algoma in Sault Ste. Marie after it leaves Queen’s University.
 
To learn more about The Witness Blanket, visit witnessblanket.ca.  

Why: The Witness Blanket helps us to better understanding and seek justice for the disproportionate victimization of Indigenous children which is among the calls to action made in Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission report. This exhibit serves to help us deepen our knowledge and re-affirm our commitment and core value of a more diverse, equitable inclusive and anti-racist community.

What: Media is invited to view The Witness Blanket in Stauffer Library

When: April 11, 10:00 am

Where: Stauffer library Fireside Room

Who: 
Mark Asberg, Vice-Provost and University Librarian, who can speak to the importance of this exhibit in terms allyship of reconciliation.
Mika Henry, Acting Associate Director, Office of Indigenous Initiatives, who can speak to the importance of the installation from an Indigenous perspective.

Please RSVP to mediarelations@queensu.ca to confirm attendance.