JUNXIONS

JUNXIONS, curated by Justin Bear L’Arrivee, features work by Winnipeg Indigenous street artists Marco Muller (Super Empee) and Zac Ironstand.

Drawing on Homi K. Bhabha’s Third Space theory, the exhibition challenges perceptions of ‘urban decay’ by critically engaging with abandoned shopping carts and broken bus shelters.

JUNXIONS critiques the colonial push to “clean up” neighborhoods, displacing people and erasing vibrant urban narratives – as seen in Winnipeg and throughout Canada in the name of urban development.

The works offer an alternative perspective (a junction), enunciating the stories of those who occupy these spaces and celebrates hybrid urban indigenous ways-of-being.

The exhibition features Marco Muller’s cARTS series which explores abandoned shopping carts, inviting viewers to reflect on their abandonment and the lives of the people who left them.

Alongside are photos of Zac Ironstand’s Bus Shack installations, which incorporate orange ribbons, copper tea sets, and religious iconography into broken bus shelters.

These works recognize the injustice and contemporary effects of residential schools while offering prayer for those who occupy these spaces.

JUNXIONS confronts the colonial desire for sanitized, static urban spaces, emphasizing instead the fluid, dynamic realities of Indigenous existence.

By transforming Winnipeg’s dis-carded carts and shattered bus shelters into Third Spaces, Muller and Ironstand celebrate the resilience and sacredness of hybrid urban identities.