Pimisi Station
Located below the new Booth Street Bridge, the Pimisi Station will present an Algonquin cultural theme highlighting the historical and contemporary importance of the culture of this people.
The station’s appearance, design and ambience strongly evoke the Algonquin-Anichinabe people and its culture, and the public artwork that will be installed at the resort will be the creation of Algonquin artists. Pimisi means “eel”, an animal sacred to the Algonquins who for thousands of years has been an essential part of their culture since it is considered a source of spirituality in addition to having medical and nutritional uses.
Màmawi: Together
Occupying a place of prominence in the station’s concourse, the installation Màmawi: Together features 100 paddles, each hand-painted by Algonquin-Anishinabe artists and arranged in the shape of a canoe on the ceiling of the station. The piece is inspired by the Algonquin teaching that it takes many people to paddle a canoe.
The project is being led by internationally known Algonquin artist Simon Brascoupé and includes artists of all ages, children, adults and elders alike. Simon Brascoupé has mentored four Algonquin-Anishinabe artists – Emily Brascoupé-Hoefler, Doreen Stevens, Sherry-Ann Rodgers and Sylvia Tennisco – who have helped to conduct paddle-making and painting workshops in Algonquin communities throughout the region.
Artist Biographies
Simon Brascoupé, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, is the lead Algonquin artist on the non-integrated artwork at Pimisi Station. Brascoupé has exhibited art in China, France and the United States. He has worked closely with Algonquin communities and was a Community Curator for the National Gallery of Canada’s Sakahàn: International Indigenous Art Junior Curators Program. As part of the Confederation Line project, he is also a mentor to the four Algonquin artists involved in creating the non-integrated artwork.
Emily Brascoupé-Hoefler, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, studied visual art and photography at the University of Western Ontario, graduating in 2003. Her work is displayed in several Algonquin artist exhibits. She has experimented with beads, birch bark and paint to produce multi-media paintings.
Sherry-Ann Rodgers is Algonquin Anishnabe from Winneway and Barriere Lake in Quebec. She discovered her talent at a very young age and has been honing her skills through drawing, painting and crafts. She has displayed her work in a local artist exhibits. She specializes in portrait paintings with acrylic, but also loves creating experimental pieces of art.
Doreen Stevens, Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg, is an actress, singer-songwriter, spoken-word, multi-talented visual artist. She is a third-year student in the Indigenous Theater School in Toronto, and has been featured in various films and performance artworks throughout Europe, Australia, the United States and Canada.
Sylvia Tennisco, Algonquins of Pikwàkanagàn, paints historic Algonquin Scenes, considers herself an illustrator and has had her work published with The Cree School Board of Education, thealgonquinway.ca and The Nation magazine, a joint investment partnership to help stimulate the Cree Language. “I would like to thank the Creator of the Universe for allowing me the opportunity to see ‘in the moment’ and for indulging in the pleasure of adding to the betterment of the World.”