Downtown Houston will feature a new art installation celebrating Indigenous culture

Houston First recently announced plans to unveil a World Premiere art installation, Weci | Koninut, on Avenida Plaza this summer.

Designed as an immersive outdoor experience combining visual arts, storytelling, and sensory technologies, Weci | Koninut was conceived by First Nations artists Julie-Christina Picher and Dave Jenniss, and created in collaboration with Quebec companies Creos and Init, as well as with Houston First. It will be installed on June 25, and then open to the public from June 26 through September 1, free of charge.

“Featuring larger-than-life dreamcatchers and an immersive sound and visual environment, the work transforms the city into a dreamlike forest, creating a living dialogue between ancestral territories, dreams, and Native art,” according to a press release.

Inspired by Notcimik, a sacred territory of the Atikamekw people, the interactive installation will contain six structures that guide visitors through the six seasons of Aikamekw culture, from Pitcipipon (pre-winter) to Takwakin (autumn). The luminous sculptures are activated as the public walks by.

Organizers say that Weci | Koninut invites viewers “to slow down, feel, listen, and dream” and aims to raise “essential questions about our relationship with the environment, our collective memory, and our diverse identities.”

Houston is the first stop along the artwork’s international tour, marking efforts to promote contemporary Indigenous art on a global scale—and to showcase Houston as a global destination for culture and innovation, according Michael Heckman, president and CEO of Houston First Corporation.

“This unique installation offers our community an exciting immersion into the richness of Native traditions and celebrates the importance of art in building bridges between peoples,” said Heckman in a statement.