Witness Blanket

The Witness Blanket is a nationally recognized and thought-provoking contemporary art installation about the impacts of Canada’s Residential Schools on Indigenous Peoples. Created by First Nations artist and master carver Carey Newman, the artwork is a wood-based art installation made up of hundreds of items reclaimed from residential schools, churches, government buildings and traditional and cultural structures across Canada. The installation bears witness to one of the darkest chapters in our nation’s past, one that, until recently, was not openly talked about or acknowledged.

“Since we first launched the tour of the Blanket in Victoria in 2014, the Blanket has travelled thousands of kilometers to remote villages, townships and city centres across the country,” says Newman. “Our hope is people from every community, across the country, join us by standing witness to this important part of Canadian history. We, as a country, need to collectively honour the survivors, remember the children who were lost and find a better way forward.”

The Witness Blanket is presented at the View Gallery with support of VIU and the Regional District of Nanaimo. The University hopes it will create opportunities for the community to have conversations about this challenging but critical topic in Canadian history.