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ECH Delegations to Woodland Cultural Centre 


The Embassy Cultural House and co-founders Ron Benner and Jamelie Hassan have had a long history with the Woodland Cultural Centre (WCC) and many members of the cultural community from the Six Nations of the Grand River territory.  Among the distinguished members are Kelly Greene,  Rick Hill,  Roberta Jamieson, Daniel David Moses (1952-2020), Shelly Niro,  Bill Powless, Robbie Robertson, Dan Smoke, Greg Statts, and Jeff Thomas.

Over the decades, Ron and Jamelie would bring their visitors from across Canada and internationally to meet with the director/curator/artist Tom Hill and have the opportunity to become aware of this Indigenous centre of culture, which was formerly the Mohawk Institute, a residential school founded in 1831. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission released its report in 2015.  The report documented the brutal impact of these schools which were church or government-run, and were dedicated to the erasure of Indigenous cultures and the students' identities. In 1970, the Mohawk Institute closed and in 1972 opened as a cultural centre, a significant conversion to the site of resistance that houses the language institute, the museum and exhibition spaces.

In 1990, the Embassy Cultural House project Indian Summer, curated by Jamelie Hassan, travelled to the WCC with the support of then-director Tom Hill and a grant from the Ontario Arts Council. The exhibition was in response to the “Oka" conflict. Later, in 2000, artist/curator Patricia Deadman and Ron Benner on behalf of the curatorial initiative Hoopoe Curatorial and the McIntosh Gallery at Western University, curated the exhibition Dust on the Road, in London, Ontario which included artists from SAHMAT, an activist collective from India and artists/activists from Canada. 

With the recent launch of the online initiative of ECH by Tariq Hassan Gordon in 2020, the delegation visits organized by Ron Benner with WCC curator Patricia Deadman, began anew. These visits are supported by contributions from ECH and the London Arts Council and bring members of our community to the WCC together with Patricia and involve visits to the grounds, the collection and temporary exhibitions. The historic Mohawk Chapel from 1785 is also visited and the adjacent cemetery where Thayendanegra (Joseph Brant), diplomat and warrior, is buried. 
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July 16, 2021

Delegation and tour led by WCC curator Patricia Deadman. Attended by Ron Benner (organizer), Jamelie Hassan, Kian Saadani-Gordon,
Olivia Mossuto, Kody Laskowski and Connor George. 
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WCC Curator Patricia Deadman meeting with Kian Saadani-Gordon, Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner.
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The Mohawk institute was the oldest residential school founded in Canada. It is now a centre for the renaissance of Indigenous culture. Photo by Jamelie Hassan.
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March 25, 2022

Delegation and tour led by WCC curator Patricia Deadman. Attended by Ron Benner (organizer), Anahí González, Imogen Clendinning, and Michelle Wilson. 
Video production and editing by Anahí González

May 12, 2022

November 3, 2022

Delegation and tour led by WCC curator Patricia Deadman. Attended by Ron Benner (organizer), Jamelie Hassan, Dan and Mary Lou Smoke, Ira Kazi, Bruno Sinder, Shelley Kopp, Lucas Kopp and Olivia Mossuto. ​
Delegation and tour led by WCC curator Patricia Deadman. Attended by Ron Benner (organizer), Jamelie Hassan, Ashar Mobeen,
​​Jared Hendricks-Polack and Gabriella Solti. 
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From the Woodland Cultural Centre website: 

Save the Evidence was a campaign to raise awareness and support for the restoration of the former Mohawk Institute Residential School, and to develop the building into an Interpreted Historic Site and Educational Resource. 

Fundraising for the Save the Evidence Campaign is now complete!

Visit the WCC website
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Quilt, n/d. Textile, ringed flower pattern. 196cm x 132cm. Found in Mohawk Institute dormitory building; third floor boy's side in hidden room front wall, during restoration in 2017. Collection of Mohawk Institute Collection, Six Nations Elected Band Council. Photo taken by Jamelie Hassan during the May 12, 2022 delegation.


EDITORIAL TEAM

ONLINE FOUNDER
Tariq Hassan Gordon

COFOUNDERS & CURATORIAL ADVISORS 
 
Jamelie Hassan 
& Ron Benner

ADVISORY CIRCLE
Samer Abdelnour, Marnie Fleming, Wyn Geleynse, Fern Helfand, S F Ho, Lorraine Klaasen, Judith Rodger, Ruth Skinner, Mary Lou and Dan Smoke,  and Lucas Stenning 

COORDINATING EDITORS
Tariq Hassan Gordon & 
Olivia Mossuto

WEB DESIGN & SOCIAL MEDIA 
Tariq Hassan Gordon, Ira Kazi, Olivia Mossuto, Niloufar Salimi,  JoAnna Weil 

VIRTUAL TOUR
Andreas Buchwaldt

PRINT PUBLICATIONS
Blessy Augustine, Shelley Kopp, 
Olivia Mossuto

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS
Andreas Buchwaldt, Blessy Augustine, Anahí González, Ira Kazi, ​Shelley Kopp, Ashar Mobeen, Niloufar Salimi,  Jenna Rose Sands, JoAnna Weil & Michelle Wilson. 

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OUR STORY
Artists Jamelie Hassan and Ron Benner and jazz musician Eric Stach founded the Embassy Cultural House (1983-1990) located in the restaurant portion of the Embassy Hotel at 732 Dundas Street in East London. Other former members of the board were: Debrann Eastabrook, Henry Eastabrook, Sharron Forrest, Wyn Geleynse, Janice Gurney, Jean Hay (1929 - 2008), Doug Mitchell, Kim Moodie, Gerard Pas, Peter Rist, Wanda Sawicki, Jean Spence and Jennie White. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Embassy Cultural House was re-envisioned as a virtual artist-run space and website. 

This project is supported by the Ontario Arts Council and the London Arts Council through the City of London's Community Arts Investment Program.
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Thank you to our partners

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E M B A S S Y  C U L T U R A L  H O U S E . C A

​London, Ontario is on the traditional lands of the Anishinaabeg, Haudenosaunee, Lenape, Attawandaron and Huron-Wendat peoples, at the forks of Deshkan Ziibi (Antler River), an area subject to the Dish with One Spoon Wampum and other treaties.

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  • Home
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    • Past Programming >
      • Exhibitions 1983-1990 >
        • Index of Curators
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        • Index of Musicians
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