Contemporary encounters

New Zealand artist Lisa Reihana is one of three New Zealand artists participating in an exhibition called Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years on at an “unprecedented number” of venues throughout Winnipeg until May 8. Reihana is joined by Brett Graham, regarded as a leading authority on contemporary Maori sculpture and Reuben Paterson, recipient of the prestigious Moet et Chandon Award. The exhibition website explains the premise of Close Encounters as “indigenous artists imagin[ing] the future within the context of present experiences and past histories.” “This exhibition is so important, it almost takes on the quality of a biennale,” says lead curator Lee-Ann Martin, a Mohawk who is director of the Indian and Inuit Art Centre in Gatineau, Ontario.