Indigenous youth in Montreal blend tradition, contemporary tricks in art exhibit at Botanical Garden

Indigenous youth are the driving force behind an art symposium that's on display at Montreal's Botanical Garden this week.

The theme of the exhibitis "We're still here," withFirst Nations and Inuit artists lookingto displaycultural traditions through contemporary art practices.

The symposium, which began last Sunday, is part of celebrations for Indigenous History Month.

It's being organized by the youth council of Native Montreal a friendship and urban Indigenous centre located in Montreal's Sud-Ouest borough.

"Thewhole theme is actually resiliency and this exhibit is the perfect way to show that Indigenous youth are thriving and that we are still carrying on our traditions in the modern and contemporary world," said Johnny Boivin, who isboth Innu and Atikamekw.

"Some of the mediums used are more contemporary, but there's still the traditional aspect to it like the beadwork and the images that are represented on some of the paintings."

Boivin came up with the concept of seven small hoops, each of them with a different colour and partially covered in hides, with strings of beads flowing down.

"The first six ones arerepresenting the six years in whichJustin Trudeau was supposed to end all boiling advisories in [Indigenous]communities, but he failed to doit, so the last one is representing this broken promise," Boivin said.

Twenty Indigenous artists contributed to the symposium. They come from a wide range of communities including Kahnawake, Kanesatake and northern Quebec. Paintings, photos and videos are on display next to exhibits of traditional practices like basket weaving.

The showcase will continue until Saturday.

"In taking up this space and reclaiming this space and reclaiming this space, we really hope to show these practices are still around," said Jessie Arens, a youth navigator at Native Montreal."They're still relevant they're still useful,"

"And yeah, we're still here."