Gallery Shop Artisan Feature: Jewelry by Warren Steven Scott
By John Manson, Gallery Shop Coordinator
We are thrilled to present a Q&A with BC-born jewelry artist and fashion designer Warren Steven Scott (Nlaka’pamux Nation and Toronto, ON).
Reflecting on National Indigenous Peoples Day
By Mel Granley, Guest Curator at the AGGV.
June is recognized as National Indigenous History Month. National Indigenous Peoples Day is a holiday celebrated in Canada every year on the 21st of June. This holiday was officially established in 1996 and is intended to “recognize the history, heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada” according to Canada.ca. I ask myself, what does this day mean to me? I am a Métis and Ukrainian person living in Canada, and this day brings mixed feelings of pride and concern.
Dear Indigenous Child
By Ross Neasloss Jr. (Kitasoo Xai Xai’s Nation)
The Holding Ground exhibit, has been a monumental experience for me. Working with so many Indigenous folks from all across turtle island. We met bi-weekly to share stories, and hold space for our deep emotions and connections to the land and each other. Along with my personal journey of land based healing, I received some wonderful words and messages during those times. These messages I got, I do not carry lightly, as they deserve to be held with care and compassion.
Rethinking Emily: The Responsibility We Carry
By Mel Granley, Guest Curator
Emily Carr has become almost synonymous with the Pacific Northwest; her work being displayed year-round in different exhibition contexts to ensure the satisfaction of visitors to the AGGV. This drive to see her work is directed by the idea of checking off a list of great and thoroughly known artists within the artistic canon. The issue? The “art canon” is heavily Euro-Western centered and very keenly demonstrates a bias for settler-European art, while largely failing to acknowledge the artistic merits of historic and contemporary BIPOC artists.
Artist In Our Collection: Tony Hunt, Sr.
By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer
Tony Hunt, Sr. (1942-2017) was a renowned artist, famous for his KwaGulth style paintings and the cedar wood carvings and totem poles he created which reflected the stories, kinship and connection of his people with the land.
An Inward Perspective: Celebrating the AGGV Collection
By Audrey Wang, AGGV Volunteer
Celebrating the AGGV Collection brings together the highlights in the AGGV’s permanent collection of artworks, bringing into perspective the breadth and depth of the Gallery’s holdings.
Nirin: The 22nd Biennale of Sydney – Five Challenging Artworks
By Haema Sivanesan, AGGV Curator
I was “back home” in Sydney in early March, just before the COVID-19 pandemic was announced, and was gratified -– more than 30 years later — to be attending the opening of the 22nd Biennale of Sydney, titled Nirin. For the first time in its history, the Biennale was being curated by an Aboriginal artist, Brook Andrew, a Wiradjuri man, whose ancestral lands are in central New South Wales.
10 Things to Know About the Northwest Aesthetic & Symbology
When the print media became a preferred medium for many First Nations artists, the artists practicing in the Northwest Coast developed a distinctive aesthetic culture that grew over the past 60 years. This is what is generally termed Coast Salish art.
To Talk With Others: A Yukon First Nations Conversation
To Talk With Others responds to the minutes of a meeting in August of 1977 between Prime Minister Pierre Elliot Trudeau and five Yukon First Nations leaders regarding the then-approved Mackenzie Pipeline.