Carrie Allison: askōhtēskanohwē

Exhibition from September 30, 2026, to February 28, 2027

Montreal, September 29, 2026 – From September 30, 2026, to February 28, 2027, the McCord Stewart Museum presents Carrie Allison: askōhtēskanohwē, an exhibition by multidisciplinary visual artist of nêhiýaw and Métis descent, Carrie Allison. Produced through the Museum’s Artist-in-Residence program, which invites artists to take a critical and conceptual look at its collection, the exhibition is presented as part of the 8th edition of the Biennale d’art contemporain autochtone. The project draws its inspiration from the artist’s family history and from beadwork in the Indigenous Cultures collection that comes from her family’s home region. By reinterpreting them, Allison reconnects with her own history, using this new body of work to map kin relationships and explore the interconnections that created the beading style of northwest Alberta.

The exhibition brings together four new beadwork pieces by Carrie Allison, eight cultural belongings from the Museum’s Indigenous Cultures collection, an interactive installation and a projection.

For Allison, the title askōhtēskanohwē evokes the idea of following the tracks of the past while opening the way for future generations. Carrying several meanings, it speaks to notions of gathering, knowledge transmission and storytelling.

“I am excited and humbled to share askōhtēskanohwē at the McCord Stewart Museum. Being able to visit and spend time with these old pieces allowed me to envision the web of connections that exists throughout these lands. askōhtēskanohwē is the start of a long term project mapping Métis material culture throughout the prairies to understand how kinship, with humans and more than humans, nurtured our floral beading styles. askōhtēskanohwē is my first attempt into old-style floral beadwork seeking to understand the regional and territorial styles of a vast people who contributed and learned from so many people, cultures and lands.” – Carrie Allison

“Since 2013, the Artist-in-Residence research-creation program has created a space for rich dialogue between artists and the Museum’s collection. By giving free rein to the creativity of artists from a range of backgrounds, it brings forward critical perspectives that renew our understanding and appreciation of the objects, works and belongings in our collection. Carrie Allison’s work shows, with both power and delicacy, the capacity of artists to weave connections between histories, generations, knowledge and territories,” says Anne Eschapasse, President and Chief Executive Officer, McCord Stewart Museum.

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A dialogue between past and present

Bringing together colonial records and old handwork practices, Carrie Allison creates a dialogue between past and present in a series of works that move across time and space. ​Depicting the cultural, societal, and ecological landscape of her ancestors through time and space, ​in which her ancestors lived, she positions beadwork as an extension of the familial storytelling ​​at the heart of her practice. Revealed as both cultural continuity and creative resurgence, beadwork becomes a means of passing on stories, reawakening knowledge and weaving connections between generations.

An interactive installation

With this exhibition, the artist challenges museum etiquette, protocols and practices by creating an inclusive space that centres children, encouraging them to explore the museum in a setting that welcomes their needs and their curiosity. BEADZ 2.0, an interactive installation made up of 25 giant foam beads—presented in conjunction with a video work—invites children and families to handle the beads freely, to play, to build or to rest as they wish. By making interaction with the works an essential part of the experience, Carrie Allison offers a welcoming space that questions the museum’s usual conventions and puts curiosity, movement and imagination at the heart of the visit.

Carrie Allison

Carrie Allison (nêhiýaw/Métis/mixed European descent) is a multidisciplinary visual artist based in K’jipuktuk, Mi’kma’ki (Halifax, Nova Scotia). Her Métis and nêhiýaw family names are Beaudry, Surprenant, Noskeye, and Payiw; her maternal roots and relations are based in and around maskotewisipiy (High Prairie, Alberta), Treaty 8, and she is a Manitoba Metis Federation citizen.

She grew up on the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:lō and Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh), xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) and Tsawwassen Nations. Based in K’jipuktuk since 2010, her practice responds to her maternal nêhiýaw and Métis inheritances, reflecting on intergenerational cultural loss alongside acts of reclamation, resilience, resistance and activism. Her work also explores notions of allyship, kinship and reciprocal relations.

Combining old and contemporary technologies, her work tells stories of land, continuity, growth and healing. Her artistic practice is grounded in research and pedagogical approaches, with the intention of sharing knowledge and fostering an understanding of deeply complex histories, concepts and possible futures.

The Artist-in-Residence program

The Artist-in-Residence program invites artists to take a critical and conceptual look at the Museum’s collection, reflecting on the relationships between their artistic practice, the objects and the stories that emerge through their research.

TD Bank Group, Indigenous Cultures Programming Sponsor

“Through her artistic practice, Carrie Allison draws on her family’s oral tradition, using beadwork as a powerful medium to share stories, rekindle knowledge and forge connections across generations. TD is proud to support the McCord Stewart Museum’s Indigenous Cultures Program, helping to bring this remarkable artist’s work to a broader audience. Through this support, visitors have a unique opportunity to discover her work and, more broadly, to engage with the richness and diversity of Indigenous art, cultures and perspectives.”

Laurence Levy, Senior Vice-President, Branch Banking, Quebec Region, TD Bank Group