31/05/2026
These were created during a hands-on workshop led by Indigenous artist Mel Bartel at . Below is the story behind them—the meaning, the making, and the living heritage they carry. ✨️
👉 Summer Collection 2026: Into The Unknown
These earrings hold a quiet .
Designed by Eva Fydrych under the guidance of Mel Bartel—a Nishinaabe artist from Lac Seul First Nation (Wolf Clan)—at The Riverdale Hub.
Mel speaks of as medicine. She believes carry emotions, and that making something by hand can heal what words cannot reach. The hoop is the Sacred Circle: a symbol of , belonging, and the never-ending cycles of life and land.
These earrings are small, but they carry a big idea—that creativity connects us to each other, to the past, and to hope. Into the unknown.
👉About the Workshop:
Born from "Learning Through Art: An Introduction to Indigenous Cultural Practices"—a free eight-workshop series held at Riverdale Hub from April to June 2026. Led by four Indigenous artists including Mel Bartel, the series welcomed all community members with no experience required.
The program culminates in a public exhibition at Riverdale Hub Gallery in September 2026.
(With deep gratitude to The Riverdale Hub and the Canada Council for the Arts.) 🙏
👉 Indigenous Art in Canada:
For millennia, Indigenous peoples have beaded, carved, and painted stories onto birchbark, hide, and stone. Every mark carried meaning—clan, territory, prayer, memory. Colonial laws once tried to erase these practices. Indigenous artists refused to stop. Today, their work is a powerful act of resilience and living heritage—alive, evolving, and still healing.