NEWASHISH, Jacques (1958)

Jacques Newashish is a multidisciplinary artist born in La Tuque, Quebec. He comes from the Attikamek community in the Wemotaci region of Quebec. Throughout the entirety of his childhood, his parents taught him traditional values and the meaning of life. A jack of all trades, Jacques Newashish works as a painter, sculptor, engraver, story teller, performer, director, actor and singer. A great many of his projects use performance and installation. In his work, he likes to mix the elements of nature through different drawing and painting techniques. In his performance-installation Cercle de vie (2002) at the First Nations Garden in Montreal, the artist created a vast space for the public to experience an intervention in the form of a pathway. Coloured poles representing the territorial forest of the Attikameks symbolically combine with the urban landscape of metropolitan Montreal, creating a cultural exchange between the two peoples of the Quebec territory. Jacques Newashish reproduced this performance in various locations across the world. The indigenous artist travels often, sharing legends and traditions of the North American First Nations.