Jordan Wilson
Jordan Wilson, a scholar and independent curator based in New York and Vancouver, has received the inaugural Indigenous curatorial research fellowship offered by Independent Curators International.
The New York-based organization works with curators, artists, and art spaces around the world to produce and present exhibitions, public programs and educational initiatives.
The fellowship, which encourages independent research, writing and the development of a curatorial project, is part of the organization's expanding program for emerging and mid-career curators.
Wilson, a Ph.D. student in anthropology at New York University, is a member of the Musqueam First Nation, in what is now Vancouver
Wilson will advance his ongoing research on Indigenous language reclamation; the increased representation of Indigenous language in the public realm and in discourses of decolonization and reconciliation; and the relationship between Indigenous languages and conceptualizations of sovereignty.
He will also further his interests in institutional and curatorial accountability in regards to Indigenous community values and protocols.
In addition to contributing to the publication accompanying the ICI exhibition Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, Wilson plans to undertake a collaborative curatorial project with the Musqueam community in response to the exhibition’s prompts.
The fellowship is conceived in conjunction with Soundings, curated by Candice Hopkins and Dylan Robinson, key advisors and mentors in Wilson’s fellowship. Additional mentors include Lorna Brown, associate director and curator at the University of British Columbia’s Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, where Soundings is currently on view.
Working closely with the curators and art spaces on the exhibition’s tour, Wilson will help develop ways of learning and passing on knowledge specific to the exhibition as it unfolds from one venue to the next.
Source: Independent Curators International