Jon Corbett, "Four Generations", 2015, digitally-generated spiral-beaded portrait
Some 40 artists will participate in the fifth Contemporary Native Art Biennial in Montreal from April 23 to June 21.
Titled Kahwatsiretátie : Teionkwariwaienna Tekariwaiennawahkòntie / Honouring Kinship, the biennial is curated by David Garneau (Métis), with the assistance of Rudi Aker (Wolastoqiyik) and Faye Mullen (Anishinaabe).
It includes beading, drawing, ceramics, painting, sculpture, photography, installations, video and performances.
The biennial is spread over several venues, including Art Mûr, La Guilde, La Maison des Régions, the McCord Museum, Pierre-François Ouellette art Contemporain and the Stewart Hall Art Gallery.
Indigenous worldviews extend the anthropological concept of kinship beyond blood relations and people related by marriage and adoption to include non-human beings and ecosystems.
Kinship informs the curatorial method, with a dozen artists asked to invite kin, whether family, community members or others, to exhibit with them.
"This redistribution of curatorial agency is a form of non-colonial practice," the biennial said in a statement. "Like a ceremony or party where invited guests invite their own guests, we wanted to expand the circle to include relations we did not yet know."
The biennial's curator, assistants and board members sought council with the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk), traditional stewards of the territory, meeting with elders in the Kahnawa;ke longhouse and eventually settling on the biennial's title.
"They sensed the imagery of a continuous circle being held together, hand in hand, nation to nation, lifting weight together," the biennial said. "These Kanienʼkeha words carry the values of a sustained kinship—continuously holding matter together.
The preliminary list of artists includes:
Scott Benesiinaabandan
Kaia’tanó:ron Dumoulin Bush
Hunter Cascagnette
John Corbet
Suzanne Kite
Larissa Riss Kitchemonia
Jason Lewis
Nadia Myre
Margaret Orr
Sage Paul
Sherry Farrell Racette
Diane Roberts
Sonia Robertson
Marit Ánne Sara
Jason Sikoak
Skawennati
Corinna Wollf
Source: Contemporary Native Art Biennial