News & Events

We are thrilled to welcome the Queen’s community and the general public to the unveiling of a new artwork installation, “Biidaaban”, by artists Will Morin and Quinn ᓂᑳᓐ ᓅᑎᓐ Hopkins. There will be a catered reception in the 3rd-floor lounge area of Stirling Hall where the artwork is installed at 5:00 PM. This is the space you enter when you enter the building from Bader Lane. The artist talks will be in Auditorium C, which is directly across from the artwork, starting at 6:00 PM. For those interested, there will also be a screening of the new documentary film, Messengers, in Auditorium C at 7:30 PM

The collaborative artwork is 18 feet wide, consisting of three large, 65-inch-wide panels and two 12-inch-wide panels between them. The two panels on the outside are original paintings by Will Morin, and the other panels are digital prints of imagery by Quinn Hopkins. The panels move from past, present, to future, bringing Anishinaabe knowledge and astroparticle physics into the same frame — a loon rising toward the pictographs of Lake Superior, a lodge layered over SNOLAB two kilometres underground, and a spirit bird travelling the Milky Way alongside a dreamcatcher woven in the same pattern found in pine cones, galaxies, and the spiral of a river. The title, “Biidaaban,” meaning “dawn comes” or  “it is daybreak” in Anishinaabemowin, speaks to the theme of past, present and future in the artwork.  The “bii” is used to mean movement forward – coming – the future. The “daa” speaks of: s/he lives, dwells in a certain place – currently: presently. The “ban” is what is added to the names of our deceased, those who have passed on, representing the past.

In addition to the formidable physical artwork, Hopkins has created an AR (Augmented Reality) layer that brings the teachings and physics into motion. Scanning a QR code with a mobile device will present viewers with an interface that uses the device’s camera to locate sections of the mural and activate animated sequences that emerge from the artwork. Audio features the artists’ voices discussing the elements of each panel and how they connect to teachings, understandings, and personal insights about the universe, creation, and the ways humans go about gaining knowledge.

This art installation is presented by The McDonald Institute, in partnership with the Queen’s University Office of Indigenous Initiatives, the Queen’s Department of Physics, Astronomy and Physics Engineering, and the Agnes Etherington Art Centre.

If you require any special assistance or accommodations for this event, please let us know at communications@mcdonaldinstitute.ca.