“Aabijijiwan – It Flows Continuously,” an exhibit currently on display at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji, is the culmination of two-and-a-half years of artistic and scientific collaboration between two artists from opposite ends of the Mississippi River.

The exhibit is a project between artists Karen Goulet and Monique Verdin that showcases work interwoven in time to represent personal histories, as well as those of Indigenous peoples who have lived on the banks of the Mississippi River.

There are 11 different textile pieces on display, including blanket maps, photographs, maps of watersheds, and even a fabric sculpture created with Earth’s DNA.

The exhibit is said to be a reflection of both the artists’ journeys together over the past two-and-a-half years illuminating diversities, connecting personal memories and curiosities and witnessing how layers of Indigenous and colonial histories laid the foundations for the consequences of the present day.

“Aabijijiwan – It Flows Continously” will be on display at the Watermark Art Center in Bemidji, along with its sister exhibit at the University of Minnesota’s Weisman Art Museum, until August 17th. More information can be found on the Watermark Art Center’s website.

By — Emma Hudziak