Remai show features sculpture dedicated to Neil Stonechild

The latest exhibition at Saskatoon’s Remai Modern art gallery explores the relationship between Indigenous peoples and the state, including an ice sculpture dedicated to Neil Stonechild.

Stonechild, a 17-year-old Indigenous boy, froze to death outside Saskatoon in 1990. Two Saskatoon police officers were fired after a 2003 inquiry into Stonechild’s death, which concluded he was picked up by the police shortly before dying of hypothermia on the outskirts of the city.

The exhibit by Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore is called Facing the Monumental, and includes her sculpture “Freeze,” which is dedicated to Stonechild. Curator Wanda Nanibush said the piece was first created by Belmore and her partner Osvaldo Yero for Toronto’s Nuit Blanche in 2006, but this will be the first time it’s been displayed in Saskatoon.

“It’s basically ‘Stonechild’ carved out of ice, and then the sculpture itself melts through human touch and through the natural environment,” Nanibush said. “His death sparked a huge conversation in this country about the relationship between the state and police and First Nations.”

Although the sculpture has been displayed in a number of shows, Nanibush said it has never been seen in Saskatoon before. She said displaying the work here is a way of honouring Stonechild’s memory and ensuring the conversations started after his death continue to happen.

“This is the first time it’s coming to Saskatoon,” she said, “It was really important that we bring it back to where it all began.”

Facing the Monumental will run at the gallery until May 5.