Hall E of the Edmonton Expo Centre is home to some quintessential Canadian wildlife during KDays, but don’t worry – they’re not real bears. Jason Carter of Little Red River Cree Nation - approximately 550 kilometres north of Edmonton - has been creating illuminated animal sculptures for the last 10-15 years. The artist says he draws inspiration from his background. “I like to explore my Indigeneity through artwork, be it sculptural work or painting. In this scenario, it’s these specific animals that are all very powerful symbols of our nature and Canada, for that matter,” he told CTV News Edmonton on Friday. He says KDays organizers asked him to piece together an exhibit for the 10-day festival. He delivered, with 13 large-scale sculptures of bears, wolves, buffalo and more. “Each of them all have different meanings for me as an Indigenous man … It’s bringing, I want to say, the outdoors in, for lack of a better term. It’s trying to explore that scale and the majestic size of them,” he explained. He said the opportunity to showcase his work to potentially hundreds of thousands of KDays attendees was “humbling and honouring.” The last day to attend KDays is Sunday. With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Evan Kenny
