Dates: September 2024 – May 2025
Location: Front Street & Princess Street
Indigenous Territory: Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in territory, Dawson City, Yukon
OPENING RECEPTION: & ARTIST TALK January 16th 1pm – 2:30pm 2025
Raven Shares the Sun
Raven Shares the Sun is a story about how Raven uses their shape-shifting abilities to transform themselves into various forms in order to steal the Sun from a great Chief. Long ago, the world has only darkness because the Sun, Stars and Moon were stored away in bentwood boxes owned by a great Chief. Raven – a bird who loves shiny things – created a plan to acquire the celestial beings. Raven first disguised himself as a spruce needle floating in the water, and the Chief’s daughter accidentally drank Raven, becoming pregnant with a son (Raven). Once the boy was born, the Chief allowed his grandson to play with the bentwood boxes that contained the Moon and Stars – which Raven disguised as a boy released into the dark sky. The Chief tells his grandson he cannot play with the last box containing the Sun, as he doesn’t want the Sun to be released too. However, after the young boy sulks his grandfather relents, allowing his grandson to play with the last box – but only if he doesn’t touch the Sun. As soon as the boy opened the box, he grabbed the Sun and instantly transformed back into a White Raven with the Sun in his beak. As a quick escape, Raven flew out the smoke stack, becoming the black bird we know today. Raven then released the sun for all to share and enjoy.
Comprised of 5 minimalist anamorphic sculptures placed on the Dawson City waterfront along the Yukon River, the artwork will appear abstract until viewers stand in a specific location where the art pieces align to create an abstracted image of Raven. To celebrate the return of the Sun after the Yukon’s long and dark winters, Raven will appear to hold the sun in his beak once the Sun’s path returns to hover over the road to the Midnight Dome in mid-January.
The sculpture, produced by Northern Tutchone artist Krystle Silverfox, pays homage to the story of Raven and the Sun – an important ancestral Yukon First Nations Story.
CBC Interview
Krystle Silverfox
Krystle Silverfox is a member of Selkirk First Nation (Wolf Clan), and interdisciplinary visual artist. She currently lives and works on the traditional territory of the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council and the Kwanlin Dün First Nation (Whitehorse, Yukon). Silverfox holds both a BFA in Visual Art (2015); a BA in Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice from UBC (2013); also an MFA in Interdisciplinary studies from Simon Fraser University (2019). Inspired by a material- focused practice, Silverfox uses visual mediums to communicate ideas and tell stories. Silverfox’s work explores concepts of Indigenous futurism, feminism, activism, and de-colonialism.
STEPS
STEPS (Sustainable Thinking & Expressions in Public Spaces) This project is part of the CreateSpace Public Art Residency by STEPS Public Art , a national program bringing public art to communities across the country. The residency is supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Race Relations Foundation with funding provided by the Government of Canada, and TD Bank Group through the TD Ready Commitment.
Funders
This project wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of our many partners. We would like to formally thank the Robert Service School for use of their workshop space, ISL Engineering for their construction consultation advice, Wildstone Construction Group and Arctech Circle Welding Services for installing the artwork onsite, and our many funders Canada Council for the Arts, Canadian Race Relations Foundation, and TD Ready Commitment.
