Joi T. Arcand, Sonny Assu, Shaun Beyale, Julianne Herney, Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers and Jeffrey Veregge
Taking its title from a body of work by Sonny Assu, depicting Spiderman in a traditional Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw style, When Raven Became Spider examines supernatural characters in Indigenous stories and contemporary comic books. These artists and storytellers depict Indigenous super-beings using popular comic book imagery, blurring the line between oral and graphic storytelling. Can their characters, in their new forms, still transmit old-world oratory tales, teaching us something about the frail human condition?
Shaun Beyale, The Time Traveller, 2015, ink, grey Copic marker and white Gelly Roll pen on paper. Collection of Regina Public Library.