This Community Exhibition is a rallying call to our community to find even more ways to be ".....Working Together" and we need your help!

You are invited to help co-create this arts & culture event on Vancouver Island - and attend! We are raising funds for the Exhibition, the Opening Ceremony, artist's Storytelling and carving demonstrations, Elders and Knowledge Keepers sharing, a community honouring Feast, and a beautiful closing Ceremony.

You are invited to the collaboration of many artists, from carving and other mediums, from various cultural backgrounds....led by a heartfelt invitation from Tlithl'kawi - Namgis Elder, master Carver & artist, and friend to soooo many of us!

"MANY HANDS - WORKING TOGETHER" Community Art Exhibition...

emerged in the spring of 2025, following Tlithl’Kawi (Rupert Scow) being honoured with the Cowichan Valley Arts Council Award of Excellence. In characteristic humility, Tlithl’Kawi received this recognition not as a personal achievement alone, but as a reflection of the countless relationships, teachings, and shared acts of creation that have shaped his life’s work. Rather than celebrating in isolation, he was inspired to ask a deeper question: What might it look like for a whole community to create together?

From this inquiry arose the vision for Many Hands – Working Together—an exhibition rooted not only in artistic excellence, but in unity, mentorship, and collective becoming. Beyond the aspirations of Truth and Reconciliation as a concept, this project lives in the everyday, relational practice of people coming together—Indigenous and non-Indigenous—to share stories, skills, and creative expression as a living act of hope.

Over decades, Tlithl’Kawi has taught and mentored an extraordinary range of artists and carvers, quietly shaping lives as much as materials. This exhibit gathers that living lineage and brings together six artists with whom Tlithl’Kawi has a special relationship. Works of the artists include: carvings, prints, jewellery, cedar weavings, and large-scale pieces, notably a multi-faceted canoe carving in progress. During hands-on demonstrations, Tlithl’Kawi will share stories about his work, culture, and collaborations with the artists and community members of all ages.

In 2016, Tlithl’Kawi survived a life-threatening stroke that resulted in partial paralysis. Rather than diminishing his practice, this moment called him into a renewed spiritual way of contributing. Drawing upon teachings received from some of the most respected artists and knowledge-holders—Wayne Alfred, Vince Shaunessy, Shawne Karpes, and many family members—his skill remains unmistakable. Yet it is his deepened compassion that now defines his mentorship. Many students speak of feeling safe to bring their own differences, limitations, and lived experiences into the work—knowing they belong in the circle of creation.

Since making Cowichan his home, Tlithl’Kawi has worked with hundreds of youth and community members, including the collaborative carving of the Totem Pole at the Waldorf School, now standing at The Hub in Cowichan Station. Following his participation in Indigenous Peacemakers training, he also completed the Welcome Figures first envisioned by the late Tousilum (Ron George) and begun by Herb Rice - also a local Master Carver and renowned artist. These figures were installed in time for the 25th anniversary of O.U.R. Ecovillage, where late Tousilum had once indicated they should stand...and where Tlithl'Kawi lives. In honour of the George family, Tlithl’Kawi later replicated these Welcome Figure Totems, and—at the request of Qwiyahwultuhw (Robert George)—a second set was carved by Tlithl'Kawi and raised at the entrance to George Town / S'amuna' Village.

These acts of service and artistry have deepened relationships between Tlithl’Kawi and the Quw'utsun peoples, strengthening a sense of welcome, reciprocity, and shared stewardship. Tlithl’Kawi is Kwikwasut’inuxw—the People of the Bear—from the village of Gwa’yasdams on Gilford Island, a place long known as a nurturing ground for artists and cultural continuity. His lineage includes Great-Grandfather Chief John Scow; Great-Grandfather Chief Mungo Martin (on his mother’s side), the renowned Kwakwaka’wakw artist; and his uncle Alfred Scow, the first Indigenous judge appointed to the British Columbia Provincial Court.

"Many Hands – Working Together" is both an exhibition and a living testimony. It reminds us that art is not only something we make—it is something that makes us, together. Through shared hands, shared stories, and shared responsibility, this exhibit invites all who enter to witness what becomes possible when community itself is treated as the highest form of creative expression.

There are multiple activities in this Community Art Exhibition which will be formally housed at the Cowichan Valley Arts Council space in the COWICHAN COMMUNITY CENTER, Main Floor, 2687 James Street, Duncan, B.C.

For more information, please text the head office at Tlithl'Kawi's home: OUR front office and put "COMMUNITY ART EXHIBIT: MANY HANDS-WORKING TOGETHER" (or at least part of this :) in the subject line!

https://cowichanvalleyartscouncil.ca/event/many-hands-working-together-tlithlkawis-indigenous-inspired-carving-artists-exhibit/