Emilio Portal, Qiqayt, 2012

Description: An on going installation honouring the complexities and mysteries of Qiqayt history, Canadian colonialism, and the artist’s own personal journey. Emilio Portal was born 1982 in New Westminster, British Columbia, the traditional territory of the Qiqayt nation.

Bio: Emilio Portal is an artist, musician, builder, and designer of French and Peruvian descent. Portal’s work is inherently interdisciplinary and spontaneous – preferring to work in-the-moment, rather than through script. Portal has spent a number of years with Dakota, Nahuatl, and Wixarika elders experiencing the immeasurable wisdom of traditional knowledge. He received a BFA from Laurentian University in 2005, a Bachelor of Environmental Design from Dalhousie in 2007, and graduated from the MFA program at the University of Victoria in 2011.