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The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) has incorporated contemporary pieces in their new department of Indigenous and Canadian Art, challenging the traditional ideas of Indigenous art and culture.
The newly re-installed and re-named J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art opened this past July, and is led by Wanda Nanibush, Curator, Indigenous Art and Georgiana Uhlyarik, Fredrik S. Eaton Curator, Canadian Art.
“The McLean Centre revitalization will enable the AGO to showcase contemporary Indigenous art in conversation with Canadian art, and to highlight critical discussions about identity, the environment, history and sovereignty,” Nanibush said in a news release from the AGO in April.
Since the AGO is located on Mississauga Anishinaabe territory, all texts in the McLean Centre are trilingual – Anishnaabemowin, English and French. For the Inuit collection, the texts are in Inuktitut, English and French.
The Indigenous artists featured in the McLean Centre include Ruth Cuthand, Kent Monkman, Norbal Morrisseau, Daphne Odjig and Jessie Oonark to name a few, as well as Inuit artists Shuvinai Ashoona and Annie Pootoogook. The work of Canadian artists such as Florence Carlyle, Emily Carr, Kazuo Nakamura and many more are also displayed.
The department also includes two major exhibitions which opened this past June – Tunirrusiangit: Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak, and Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental.
Described in the news release as a gift that comes to the gallery through language, stories and its community perspective,Tunirrusiangit: Kenoujak Ashevak and Tim Pitsiulak is led by a curatorial team of Inuit artists and curators.
Co-curator Jocelyn Piirainen stated in the news release that this project introduces a new way of communication through the various types of art works in the exhibit.
“For an urban Inuk like myself who has been living in the South and rarely sees the tundra, this project takes on even more meaning,” Piirainen said. “It means delving into my roots and connecting the old traditions with new ways of communicating.”
Through 110 drawings and sketches on paper, Tim Pitsiulak’s art provides gallery-goers with a view into contemporary Inuit life.
“It’s important to showcase the art to give indigenous people the recognition they deserve for the tremendous art that they create for Canada,” David Gibson, an exhibit expert, said.
The Rebecca Belmore: Facing the Monumental exhibit focused more on remembering the forgotten. From July 12 to October 21, Belmore shared the stories of the marginalized through photography, performance art, installation, sculpture and video in the AGO.
“Belmore’s images are deeply felt and leave an indelible mark on the viewer,” Nanibush said in the news release. “In capturing the universal truths of pain, beauty, empathy, hope and transformation, her work positions the viewer as a witness, and encourages us all to face what is monumental.”
As stated in the news release, the new Department of Indigenous and Canadian Art was created to improve the Nation to Nation relationship that highlights the treaty relationship that allowed Canada to come into existence.
The new name, J.S. McLean Centre for Indigenous & Canadian Art, recognizes the historical and contemporary position of Indigenous Art as existing prior to and extending beyond Canada’s borders.
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