Artist confronts experience as Sixties Scoop adoptee in Salmon Arm exhibition
Indigenous artist Scott Kwah is set to debut a deeply personal exhibition titled "A.R.E.N.A. babies" at the Salmon Arm Art Gallery, running from April 11 to June 16, 2026. The installation centers on 18 hand-cast concrete figures seated on vintage chairs that emit audio of fragmented, childlike voices questioning their origins and loss of language. The work directly confronts Kwah’s history as a survivor of the Sixties Scoop, specifically referencing the Adoption Resource Exchange of North America (ARENA) program that facilitated the cross-border displacement of Indigenous children.