Greetings from Chris: Reopening and Yo-Yo Ma

Yesterday was a glorious day! Not only were we blessed with beautiful weather, but the Abbe Museum reopened to the public! 

After more than a year of having our doors closed, it is such a sincere good feeling among the whole team at the Abbe to welcome you all to the museum again. 

We have new things for you to see. Our new exhibit Stitching Ourselves Together, is open in the main gallery. Curated by Mi’kmaq artist Jennifer Pictou, it showcases historic Mi’kmaq quillwork from the Abbe’s collection and contemporary pieces commissioned for the exhibit.

The 2021 Waponahki Student Art Show is up and installed in the Community Gallery, giving you a wonderful glimpse into the hearts and minds of Wabanaki youth artists and their reflections on the world around them. There are striking pieces showcasing talent, humor, heartache, and love.  

You may have heard the recent buzz about my collaboration with world-renowned cellist Yo-Yo Ma in Acadia National Park . Words cannot express what a transformational experience it was to work with such a supremely talented musician and an absolute gem of a human being. How does a museum executive director end up collaborating on surprise pop-up performances with an 18-time Grammy winner? To be honest, I’m still contemplating the answer to that myself. However, the stars aligned, and somehow it happened. 

The message of Yo-Yo’s visit to the Dawnland is one of hope and healing as we slowly emerge out of the global pandemic. It is also a message about humanity’s connection to nature, and he chose to do so by centering the voice of Wabanaki peoples in our homelands. Not on himself.  

As I often talk about at the Abbe, the solution to sustainable living on this land is in the languages of the Wabanaki peoples. Our ancestors knew how to speak from the land itself. They sustained life for themselves and the land for over 10,000 years and did so with knowledge, science, and a worldview that placed humanity with nature, not separate from it. It was indeed fitting that Yo-Yo Ma chose to honor Wabanaki homelands by including Wabanaki people in the conversation. 

When I was asked by Yo-Yo Ma’s office what type of performance would be meaningful to Wabanaki peoples, I knew the framework of this collaboration was on solid ground. My suggestion was a performance during sunrise at dawn to welcome the day. Greeting the day is a purpose central to the existence and spirituality of Wabanaki peoples. When making the suggestion, I did not realize fully what I just signed myself up for as Yo-Yo Ma’s office answered the suggestion with a resounding “Yes!”

What began as a small experimental music idea grew to involve several partners, including Acadia National Park, Schoodic Institute, Yo-Yo Ma’s office, Yo-Yo Ma, and several Wabanaki performers. Then a suggestion was made to invite Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland as a gesture of goodwill. To our surprise, she accepted. 

It’s a testament to the power of art and music. The collaboration did not originally intend to involve a gathering of tribal, state, and federal leaders. We simply wanted to share some joy and hopefully create a transformational moment for some lucky people who just happened to be there. However, the outcome of Yo-Yo Ma’s intent to honor Wabanaki homelands with music was something much more resounding and powerful than we ever imagined.  Check out some photos of the event below (courtesy of Nakia Newell Dana).

What a beautiful day.