We Remember: Duncan de Kergommeaux, Dan Smoke, Murray Sinclair, Roy Miki, Carole Condé, and Chris Gittings

It continues to be a heavy year for the ECH community and beyond.

View this email in your browser It continues to be a heavy year for the ECH community and beyond. With wars raging across the globe, criminals elected into office, and the passing of cultural icons and artists, it can be hard to find light and purpose. We are turning inward this week, closer to home, to reflect on the important work that has been accomplished by many legendary artists, writers, and Elders in our community. We are mourning the passing of Duncan de Kergommeaux, Dan Smoke, Murray Sinclair, Roy Miki, Carole Condé, and Chris Gittings, but we are cherishing and celebrating their incredible lives lived. Ron Benner's photographic/garden installation "As The Crow Flies" at Museum London, November 5, 2024. Photo credit: Jamelie Hassan Embassy Cultural House mourns the loss of Dan Smoke Elders and Knowledge Keepers Dan and Mary Lou Smoke at Museum London for Ron Benner's Maiz Barbacoa/Corn Roast in September 2022. Photo credit: Studio Kuefner Photography.    Our sincere condolences to Mary Lou Smoke and family and all their relations on the recent passing of Dan Smoke. Dan was a good friend to us and always gave generously to all—sharing his knowledge to those who cared to listen. Now he is making his journey to the spirit world. We are profoundly grateful for all the work he and Mary Lou have done together. The Faculty of Information and Media Studies at Western University is working on archiving the Smoke Signals Radio program beginning in the 1990’s, which will ensure that his voice will continue to be heard. As Elders, they were both active in many communities and on university campuses and with the Wampum Learning Centre at Western. They were always happy and ready to work with us and our team at the Embassy Cultural House and our events were enriched by the knowledge he shared together with Mary Lou. May he rest in peace. — Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner --   For information regarding the sacred fire and funeral details, please visit his obituary on the RHB Anderson Funeral Homes website.  Dan and Mary Lou Smoke attending the Embassy Cultural House publication launch for "An Alternative Cultural History of London, Ontario" at Museum London, September 22, 2024. Left to right: Ron Benner, Lorraine Klaasen, Olivia Mossuto, Dan Smoke, and Mary Lou Smoke. Photo credit: Jamelie Hassan   My heart goes out to the families, friends, and communities that today lost three amazing souls. I can only imagine how the loss of Amanda Kennedy, Dan Smoke, and Murray Sinclair is being felt in hearts and homes across this region and beyond. You are all in my thoughts—I am so grateful for the gifts of truth and knowledge that each of these leaders shared so generously. — Tom Cull --   ECH Delegation to the Woodland Cultural Centre, May 12, 2022. Left to right: Lucas Kopp, Shelley Kopp, Bruno Sinder, Ira Kazi, Dan Smoke, Jamelie Hassan, Ron Benner, Patricia Deadman, and Mary Lou Smoke. Photo credit: Olivia Mossuto Beneath the Sun: A Public Celebration of Artist Carole Condé Carole Condé and Karl Beveridge, Carole's Garden, 2021 A Space Main Gallery 401 Richmond St W, Toronto, ON November 9 – December 7, 2024 Public celebration of artist Carole Condé November 9, 2024, 2:00 pm–5:00 pm   Join A Space for a public celebration of the life and work of Carole Condé (1940 – 2024) on Saturday, November 9, 2024, 2 – 5 pm at A Space Gallery in Toronto. The exhibition runs November 9 – December 7, 2024 in the Main Gallery. Carole Condé was a visual artist who, along with partner and collaborator Karl Beveridge, challenged the assumptions and practices of contemporary art and the international art market. Over the past 50 years she worked in collaboration with various trade union and community organizations in the production of her elaborately constructed narrative photographs portraying the lives and issues faced by working people. Carole was among the founding members of the Mayworks Festival in Toronto in 1986 and the Workers Arts and Heritage Centre in Hamilton, Ontario, in 1996. She was also active in A Space Gallery over the past 40 years. Carole received the Cultural Award, Ontario Federation of Labour, in 1997, honourary degrees from OCADU in 2010, and NASCAD in 2015, the Prix au mérite artistique, Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) in 2013, and the Governor General’s Award in the Visual and Media Arts (Canada), in 2022.   For more information, please visit the A Space website.  As we prepared to send out this newsletter, we also received the sad news that artist, dear friend, and educator, Duncan de Kergommeaux passed away in Ottawa. Duncan was born in British Columbia in 1927. From 1970–1993 he taught in the Visual Arts Department at the University of Western Ontario where he was Chair of the Department from 1981–1984. During his years working in London, Ontario, Duncan was a dedicated supporter of artists and became involved in the ECH when our programs began in 1983 at the Embassy Hotel. He continued his enthusiastic connection when the ECH relaunched the 2020 online initiative.  Duncan had maintained a rigorous studio practice since 1953 with over 60 solo exhibitions and several major museum retrospectives and over 100 group exhibitions since 1953 including exhibiting at various Biennials of Canadian Art and a solo show at the National Gallery of Canada. His work is in the Ottawa Art Gallery, National Gallery of Canada, Art Gallery of Ontario, Museum London, McIntosh Gallery and the Canada Council Art Bank. Duncan de Kergommeaux lived and maintained a studio in Ottawa. He was appointed to the Royal Canadian Academy (RCA) and in 2023, Duncan was awarded a life-time achievement award from the Ottawa Art Gallery which celebrated the influence of 5 established artists and their impact on the Ottawa art scene and beyond.  More details to follow in our next ECH newsletter.  Relevant and Related Links From The London Free Press: "Longtime Indigenous Broadcaster Dan Smoke mourned: 'Transformative'" by Jennifer Bieman Smoke Signals Radio Show Archive: A Welcome by Dan and Mary Lou Smoke From CBC News: "Murray Sinclair, former senator who led Truth and Reconciliation commission, dead at 73" by Peter Zimonjic From Lake Chapala Artists: Duncan de Kergommeaux and "Winter Days" in San Juan Cosalá, Lake Chapala by Tony Burton From A Space Gallery: In Loving Memory of Carole Condé From Simon Fraser University, Department of English: "In Memoriam: Roy Miki, professor emeritus" by Clint Burnham From London Review of Books: "Lest We Forget" by Loubna El Amine Obituary for Christopher Edward Smith Gittings (1962–2024) From Democracy Now!: "Genocide as Colonial Erasure": U.N. Expert Francesca Albanese on Israel's "Intent to Destroy" Gaza From n+1: "The Last Days of Mankind" by Pankaj Mishra From The Walrus: "In Gaza, Language is All We Have Left" by Pacinthe Mattar Visit the ECH Website Embassy Cultural House is located on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabek, Haudenosaunee, Lūnaapéewak, and Chonnonton peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Covenant Wampum and other treaties, colonized as London, Ontario. The ECH strives to create meaningful relationships between the Indigenous Peoples of Turtle Island and our contributors. The ECH honours the stewardship of the many Indigenous peoples who have resided on these lands since time immemorial. Copyright © 2024 Embassy Cultural House. All rights reserved. Our mailing address: 514 Pall Mall Street, London, ON, N5Y 2Z6, Canada Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.