Carla Hemlock, a Kanien’keha:ka artist, has seen a surge in interest from curators and institutions, allowing her to work at her own pace. Her collaborative installation with her son, filmmaker Raohserahawi Hemlock, titled *In the Arms of the Natural World*, has been donated to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) and is now on view in the exhibition *Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers*. The piece, featuring three quilts and two films, explores the legacy of residential schools with what the artists describe as absolute delicacy and care.
This acquisition matters because it reflects a deliberate effort by the MMFA’s curator of Indigenous practices, Léuli Eshrādhi, to modernize and expand the museum’s Indigenous collection. When Eshrādhi joined three years ago, the collection included only one Kanien’keha:ka artist; now there are seven. The work recenters Indigenous narratives and deepens public understanding of difficult histories, underscoring the role of art as a vehicle for free expression during turbulent times.