A performance by Vernon-based artist Mariel Belanger of Illegal: Let us Live will be held at the Kelowna Art Gallery on Thursday, July 25, 2019, at 6 pm. The piece is written by Greg Younging.

Illegal: Let us Live is a multimedia performance with audio, visual, and performative elements that explores issues related to Indigenous laws about the land.

Describing the performance Belanger outlines, “As a historical embodiment, it challenges the colonial imposition, forced displacement, diaspora, and the importance of telling our intergenerational truths and speaking out against genocidal practices and laws. In this performance the artist is the embodiment of Mother Earth, transitioning through the story, as she portrays the thematic tension within ‘belonging’ in contemporary Indigenous relationships to colonial patriarchy.”

Mariel Belanger is a Vernon-based artist from the northern part of the syilx-Okanagan Nation who is dedicated to contributing in the growth of interdisciplinary performance arts as a method to engage Indigenous community, language, and culture. As artist scholar, her MFA from UBC Okanagan researched identity through the lens of sqilxw ways of knowing and being, customary law, indigenous feminism, and performance theory.

This performance is held in conjunction with the exhibition Her Body Will Remember, which features the work of artists Tsēmā Igharas, Tiffany Shaw-Collinge, and Mariel Belanger. It is on view at the Kelowna Art Gallery until September 8, 2019.

Refreshments and a reception will follow the performance. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP toinfo@kelownartgallery.com or 250-762-2226 as space is limited.

The Kelowna Art Gallery is located at 1315 Water Street in downtown Kelowna. For more information about current exhibitions, public programming or special events, please visit the Kelowna Art Gallery online at www.kelownaartgallery.comor call 250-762-2226.