Art Installation – Witness Blanket & Faceless Dolls
This statement is shared on the Witness Blanket site, “The Witness Blanket is a large-scale work of art inspired by a woven blanket.” These projects share stories of residential school survivors. It also shows how sites and digital platforms can be designed and created to allow authentic voices of Indigenous Peoples be shared in a purposeful way. This resources is important because it shares stories of our past and connects people to understanding the hardships and horrendous treatment of Indigenous families. It builds empathy.
Another eye opening project that involves meaningful connection to stories is the “Faceless Doll Project.” This is important as it can become a purposeful maker project. https://www.nwac.ca/assets-knowledge-centre/2012_Building_on_the_Legacy_of_NWAC_Faceless_Doll_Project.pdf
This was designed to talk about the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. Both of these projects can be used to speak about how making can be a way to share stories and to tell others about the histories of Canada.
I think these are both intentional projects that students could learn about within their classrooms. It also provides teachers with a deeper understanding of the impacts of colonization.