Exhibition schedule

Art is a means to tell stories, document histories, and relate everyday experiences for current and future generations. Together, the voices of the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis artists assembled in this exhibition speak to the continuity of cultures, a history of activism and the connectivity between all things. To coincide with Àbadakone/Continuous Fire/Feu continuel, the International Indigenous art exhibition displayed at the National Gallery of Canada, The Time is Now and Yesterday and Tomorrow features a selection of artwork by over 40 artists from the Indigenous Art Collection, several of whom are also featured in Àbadakone. With a particular emphasis on emergent practices, works in this exhibition are by artists who engage the past, present and future–connecting people and places through time–bringing sincere questions to the fore and offering honest answers about our histories, our realities and our futures.

Artists

• Tania Willard
• Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun
• Ron Nogonosh
• Pistseolak Saila
• Gerald McMaster
• Oviloo Tunnillie
• Meryl McMaster
• Michael Belmore

Echoing the Land assembles diverse works by First Nations, Inuit and Métis artists drawn from both the early age of Indigenous art activism and more recent activist engagements to address relations with the land. Place gives us identity and, through identity, Indigenous peoples assert agency and self-determination. Speaking to Indigenous artists' connection with the land and their interpretation of knowledge from the land projected into art, Echoing the Land includes works created from 1985 to 2019 to highlight the resiliency of Indigenous place-based knowledge, recognizing a shared devotion to land that cuts through generations, cultures, geographies and languages.

This exhibition is part of a graduate course in Indigenous curation hosted by the Indigenous Art Centre in conjunction with Carleton University's School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies and the Cultural Mediations Program under the direction of Dr. Carmen Robertson.

Co-curators

• Mackenzie Birdgenaw
• Kristine McCorkell
• Melissa Pole
• Dana Somerville
• Krista Ulujuk Zawadski

Artists

• Barry Ace
• Judy Anderson
• Kristen Auger
• Catherine Blackburn
• Katherine Boyer
• Ruth Cuthand
• Vanessa Dion Fletcher
• Bev Koski
• Nadia Myre
• Stella Two Young Man
• Nico Williams

invisible threads looks at the contemporary and transformative context of beading through the aesthetic innovations and tactile beauty of this skill-based practice. Beading creates a space within time for individual and communal contemplation. It is continuity performed, as it ties one artist to another and past to present. Its material language and techniques are rooted in culturally-informed traditions and cultural adaptation. It is a place of knowledge transfer and a form of resistance. Connecting to a tradition of making that has been exercised over thousands of years, artists manipulate and transpose this original pixel in ways that are both customary and conceptual, inviting viewers to consider the political, creative and technical dimensions of beadwork.

Instead of a regular exhibition of artwork from the collection, an informative display invites everyone to learn more about the Indigenous Art Collection and the Indigenous Art Centre. It includes:

• a newly acquired artwork, I Only Learned Freedom, by Secwepemc artist Tania Willard
• a story by Cecil King, an Indigenous educator, from the paper he presented at the 88th Annual Meeting of the American Anthropological Association in Washington, D.C. in 1989

Guest Curator: Rhéanne Chartrand

In 1985, a group of Indigenous image-makers came together in Hamilton to form the Native Indian/Inuit Photographers' Association (NIIPA) with the core objective to promote a positive, realistic and contemporary image of Indigenous peoples through the medium of photography. #nofilterneeded brings together, for the first time in over 30 years, photographic works by 19 early NIIPA members from the organization's first two self-produced touring exhibitions, Visions (1985) and Silver Drum (1986) and provides an unfiltered view into the interests and concerns of beautiful, resilient and thriving peoples. By acknowledging the artistic achievements of its early members and celebrating the momentum of the organization's early years, this exhibition shines much-needed light on NIIPA and its often overlooked importance to Indigenous art history.

On October 4 at 2 pm, guest curator, Rhéanne Chartrand, will present on the exhibition at the Indigenous Art Centre Gallery.

Guest Curator: Lee-Ann Martin

Artists

• Robert Houle
• Joseph "Joe" Jacobs
• Richard Glazer-Danay
• Maria Hupfield
• Bruno Canadien
• Jerry A. Evans
• Frank Shebageget
• Kayley Mackay
• Elisapee Ishulutaq

The works in Sharing the Collection Part 2: Our Land reflect Indigenous perspectives on the history of this land now known as Canada. The artists celebrate time-honoured history and traditions that existed long before the arrival of Europeans. At the same time, they comment upon contemporary realities and compromises facing Indigenous peoples today.

The works selected for this exhibition are included in CIRNAC's recent publication, "The Indigenous Art Collection: Selected Works 1967-2017".

Guest Curator: Lee-Ann Martin

Artists

• Carl Beam
• Patricia Deadman
• Rosalie Favell
• George Littlechild
• Martin "Akwiranoron" Loft
• Glenna Matoush
• David Neel
• Jeneen Frei Njootli
• William Noah
• Annie Pootoogook
• Arthur Renwick
• Skawennati
• Simon Tookoome

Picturing Ourselves includes portraits of self, family and community from each artist's perspective. The images often confront the troubled history of Indigenous peoples and representation associated with the colonial lens. For example, at the turn of the 20th century, numerous documentary photographs by Caucasian anthropologists, government officials, artists and others contributed to the romantic falsehood of a "vanishing race." Since that time, and continuing today, outdated misunderstandings often contradict contemporary Indigenous realities.

Indigenous artists choose portraiture, not only to confront stereotypical misrepresentations of Indigenous people, but also to celebrate their community and their culture. This exhibition invites viewers to consider the artists' reflections and reworking of many continuing misrepresentations in images that "picture ourselves."

The works selected for this exhibition are included in CIRNAC's recent publication, "The Indigenous Art Collection: Selected Works 1967-2017".

Curatorial: Rosalie Favell

Artists

• Shirley Bear
• Rosalie Favell
• Maria Hupfield
• Jim Logan
• Shelley Niro
• Tim Pitsiulak
• Ryan Rice
• Greg Staats

This exhibition celebrates women. Be she driving the ATV with 7 children aboard for the ride, or paddling her own course in a canoe, woman is a solid force. She is depicted laughing, sharing and perhaps kissing. She is seen as mother, grandmother, sister and lover. The artists in this exhibition focus on women's resilience and spirit. She is an inspiration and source of strength. She has survived many hard times, prejudice, inequality, poverty and violence. She is the mythical source of creation and the keeper of knowledge, traditions, and stories. The contemporary Indigenous woman is a force to contend with. As artist Shelly Niro says, "People have a stereotypical idea of what Native women are all about. We're portrayed in the movies as cardboard cut outs and when you try to present a different image, people are disappointed. I want to blow that out."

Photographs of the artists in this exhibition are taken from my series, Facing the Camera. I started this project during a Banff residency in 2008 when I was inspired by the many Aboriginal artists who had gathered there, and realized that a document had not been made of individuals who make up this community. I have continued to photograph artists in different cities in an attempt to give as much representation to my community as possible. To date over 400 artists and cultural figures have participated. This exhibition provides the opportunity to show some of these artists with their artwork.

Curatorial Advisors: Hannah Claus and Danielle Printup

Artists

• Christi Belcourt
• Bob Boyer
• Christian Chapman
• Jerry A. Evans
• Tom Hill
• Meelia Kelly
• Teresa Marshall
• Glenna Matoush
• Arthur Shilling

Traces: Indigenous Artists Moving through Memory explores the various forms in which vision and experience can be revealed by the Indigenous voice. Memory serves as a vehicle to consider the complex sets of relations that are negotiated within individual and collective histories. Within this fluidity, the acts of making and marking can become places of connection. These artists speak to the profound awareness that can be located by being "in relation" to place, to self and to each other.

Artist

• Daphne Odjig

"[Odjig] was an inspiration and role model for generations of Indigenous artists past, and for generations of Indigenous artists to come; an exemplar of tenacity, guts and grace for those of us who continue the work of defining and securing the place of Indigenous visual culture in the art world of Canada."

Daphne Odjig (1919-2016) was raised on the Wikwemikong Unceded Reserve on Manitoulin Island, Ontario, and was of Odawa and Potawatomi heritage. Her career spanned over 6 decades and can easily be described as profound, prolific and groundbreaking. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally since 1964 and her work can be found in major public and private collections across the globe. In 1971, she founded Odjig Indian Prints of Canada, a small press shop, to provide more opportunities for Indigenous artists to participate in the art market. She was also a co founder of the Professional Native Indian Artists Association, an influential artist collective with Alex Janvier, Jackson Beardy, Eddy Cobbiness, Carl Ray, Joseph Sanchez and Norval Morrisseau. Odjig career is decorated with numerous honours and awards including the Order of Canada (1986), Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts (2007), National Aboriginal Achievement Award (1998), multiple honourary degrees, and was honoured with an Eagle Feather on behalf of the Wikwemikong Reserve in recognition of her artistic accomplishments (1978), an honour previously reserved for men.

"We are a living people and a living culture. I believe we are bound to move forward, to experiment with new things and develop new modes of expression as all peoples do. I don't intend to stay in the past. I don't feel like no museum piece."

Curator: Rosalie Favell

Artists

• Rosalie Favell
• Tanya Harnett
• Mattiusi Iyaituk
• Alex Janvier
• Claude Latour
• Rita Letendre
• George Littlechild
• Meryl McMaster
• Irene Avaalaaqiaq Tiktaalaaq

My Spirit is Strong is about taking care, of ourselves and nature. The artists in this exhibition look out to the land and its creatures and reflect on the continuity of existence. They also look inward to explore connections between the human and natural world, and how the health of one affects the other. The violence committed against nature and the self is seen. The artists acknowledge that their contemporary situation is sometimes dire. But all believe in the power of their art to reveal the world as infused with memories, myths and stories. Their images are cautionary; there is need for vigilance, healing and redress. Nature is nurturing, but must also be cherished and cared for. The spirit is also fragile, but resilient.

Photographs of the artists in this exhibition are taken from my series, Facing the Camera. I started this project during a Banff residency in 2008 when I was inspired by the many Aboriginal artists who had gathered there, and realized that a document had not been made of individuals who make up this community. I have continued to photograph artists in different cities in an attempt to give as much representation to my community as possible. To date 283 artists and cultural figures have participated. This exhibition provides the opportunity to show some of these artists with their artwork.

Curator: Michelle McGeough

Artists

• Daphne Odjig
• Freda Diesing
• Glenna Matoush
• Lauren I. Wuttunee
• Lee Claremont
• Marianne Nicolson
• Rosalie Favell
• Ruth Cuthand
• Shirley Bear
• Tania Willard
• Winnie Tatya
• Zoey Wood-Salomon

Presented in collaboration with:

Artists

• Christian Chapman
• Vanessa Dion Fletcher
• Christian Morrisseau
• Barry Pottle
• France Trépanier

Artists

• Carl Beam
• Benjamin Chee Chee
• Don Ense
• David General
• Clifford Maracle
• R. Gary Miller
• Norval Morrisseau
• Daphne Odjig
• Arthur Shilling
• Elda Smith
• Margaret Terrance
• Angus Trudeau
• Leo Yerxa

Presented in collaboration with:

Artists

• David Kanietakeron Fadden
• Tanya Harnett
• Claude Latour
• Caroline Monnet
• Jeneen Frei Njootli
• Skawennati

Artists

• Saimaiyu Akesuk
• Siassie Kenneally
• Ohotaq Mikkigak
• Kavavaow Mannomee
• Tim Pitsiulak
• Malaija Pootoogook
• Pitaloosie Saila
• Nicotye Samayualie
• Ningeokuluk Teevee
• Papiara Tukiki

Curator: Michelle McGeough

Artists

• Bob Boyer
• Benjamin Chee Chee
• Robert Houle
• Alex Janvier
• Katia KaK'wa Kurtness
• Ann McLean
• Kimowan Metchewais
• Susan Point
• Rick Rivet
• Helen Wassegijig
• Linus Woods

Artists

• Jason Baerg
• Joane Cardinal-Schubert
• George Clutesi
• Willie Ermine
• Walter Harris
• Teresa Marshall
• Johnny Pootoogook
• Arthur Shilling
• Roger Simon
• Simon Tookoome

An exhibition of the 11 artworks from the Indigenous Art Collection that are featured on the National Capital Commission's 2013 Confederation Boulevard banners.

The Honourable Bernard Valcourt opened the exhibition on May 29, 2013, in the Lobby of 10 Wellington Street.

Presented in collaboration with:

Curator: Jennifer Cartwright

Contemporary Photographs by

• Kayley MacKay
• Jimmy Manning
• Matthew Nuqingaq
• Barry Pottle
• Chris Sampson

Archival Photographs by

• Aggeok Pitseolak
• Peter Pitseolak

Re-Visioning the North presents the work of 5 photographers who focus on a variety of subject matter ranging from sweeping arctic landscapes to closely cropped still-lifes. Supplemented with reproductions of early work by Peter and Aggeok Pitseolak, the exhibition explores historic and contemporary forms of Inuit photography.