Indigenous Curators’ Discussion

Join Griffin Art Projects for a virtual panel discussion between three Indigenous curators as they discuss their methodologies and approaches to curation.

Lorilee Wastasecoot (Legacy Art Gallery), Aliya Boubard (Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art), and Jocelyn Piirainen (National Gallery of Canada) will discuss their approaches to the curation of Indigenous art within a field still largely dominated by colonial values of art, culture, and space. Galleries and museums hold a long history of showcasing Indigenous artworks as detached from their creators, as relics of times past, and held to definitions of ‘art’ and ‘value’ not compatible with Indigenous cultures and value systems. In reality, Indigenous art is still widely practiced in both traditional and innovative ways, and Indigenous artists and curators are reclaiming control over how their art forms are shown to the world. Panelists will provide insight into their past projects, curatorial methodologies, and about the overlap between Indigenous art and the Western fine arts world. The discussion will be facilitated by Griffin’s Young Canada Works Indigenous Public Programming and Marketing Intern, Jordanna George, and followed by a Q+A period.