Note – all images can be seen at a larger scale by clicking or double-clicking on them.
The images here are details from a permanent exhibit at the McCord Museum in Montreal, from the museum’s First Peoples Collection. The exhibit is titled Wearing our Identity – Porter Son Identité. The show also features contemporary artwork by first nations artists. This series of detail photos from the show highlights traditional and decorative patterns, much of this in the form of beadwork. Patterns range from figurative (e.g. flowers) to abstraction and symbolism.
All of the images here are raw digital files, they have not been cropped, or adjusted in any way. In some cases the colours appear to be oversaturated, or overexposed, but what is shown is simply the effect of the museums general and accent lighting, and the camera’s ‘intelligence’ in reading the subject. The photos are shown in the order they were taken.
By way of explanation on the show’s intent, the museum’s website states: This permanent exhibition enables the public to explore the complex heritage of the First Peoples of Canada and learn more about how their dress has helped define their rich cultures and identities. Wearing our Identity – The First Peoples Collection will also help visitors learn about the importance of clothing in the development, preservation and communication of the social, cultural, political and spiritual identities of the First Nations, Inuit and Métis.
