The Named and the Unnamed

Artist/Creator: Rebecca Belmore (Artist)
Date: 2002
ID #: BG2509

Physical Description

Medium: video
Support: –
Dimensions: –
Object Description: Rebecca Belmore's performance, "Vigil," was performed June 23, 2002 at the corner of Gore Street and Cordova Street in Vancouver, where many Indigenous women and girls have disappeared. The site-specific performance addresses the loss and distress that Indigenous communities experience in ongoing colonial legacies. Beginning with a ceremonial cleansing of the performance site in an urban alley near Gore and Cordova Streets, Belmore calls out the names of the missing women. After putting on a red dress, Belmore nails the fabric to a telephone pole where she repeatedly tears it and then re-nails it.

It was recorded by Paul Wong during the 2002 Talking Stick Festival in Vancouver. "Vigil" was commissioned by Full Circle in Talking Stick: Aboriginal Arts Festival and Margo Kane.

History

Collection: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery Permanent Collection
Credit Line: Purchased with support from the Canada Council for the Arts Acquisition Assistance program and the Morris and Helen Belkin Foundation, 2005
Related Exhibitions: Rebecca Belmore
Rebecca Belmore
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