Delegates from the Nisga'a First Nation were in Scotland last month to seek the return of a memorial totem pole they say was stolen nearly a century ago. The delegation, including the nation's chief, Earl Stephens, travelled from British Columbia for talks at the National Museum of Scotland. “This will be the first time in living memory that members of the House of Ni'isjoohl will be able to see the memorial pole with our own eyes,” Stephens said in a media release. “This visit will be deeply emotional for us all.” The pole, carved in the 1860s, tells the story of Ts'wawit, a warrior killed in a conflict with a neighbouring nation. The Nisga'a Nation says the pole was taken in 1929 by ethnographer Marius Barbeau while the community was away hunting and harvesting food.
Prominent architect Moshe Safdie is donating his professional archives – some 100,000 documents – to McGill University in Montreal, the Toronto Globe and Mail reports. He will also give the university his personal apartment in Habitat, the building at Expo 67 in Montreal that helped make his name. Safdie, 84, born in Haifa, Israel, earned a bachelor's degree in architecture at McGill in 1961. Safdie, who now splits his time between Israel and the United States, designed the National Gallery in Ottawa and the Museum of Civilization in Quebec City. McGill says the apartment will be used for exhibitions and artist-in-residence programs.
A project celebrating Two Spirit, trans, non-binary, gender-nonconforming artists and digital creators in Saskatchewan has selected four participants. Cyril W. Chen, acâhkos calf child-dubois, Opal Hoggart and Yuji Lee will each receive a $2,000 monthly stipend and support for their art practices for six months. This pilot project is funded through the Canada Council for the Arts and is hosted by the University of Saskatchewan Art Galleries and Collections. Learn more here.
The National Gallery of Canada in Ottawa has announced that three new students are participating in a conservation internship to encourage diversity. Carl Magarro, Doris Fuller Ruiz and John Habib will spend 12 weeks shadowing experienced conservators. Learn more here.
Edward Burtynsky is releasing a new body of work – and a book – about African environments undergoing rapid industrial and manufacturing expansion. African Studies includes photographs of the salt pans of Senegal and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, as well as images that speak to the fragility of natural environments, such as the Rift Vally in Kenya. “I’m finding new visual resonances emerging while photographing in Africa," Burtynsky says in his summer newsletter. "While evolving my use of the aerial perspective, in these recent pictures I am surveying two very distinct aspects of the landscape: that of the earth as something intact, undisturbed yet implicitly vulnerable ... and that of the earth as opened up by the systematic extraction of resources.”
An exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto offers a rare look at Black life this fall. The show was selected from a recently acquired collection of more than 4,000 found Polaroids and instant images from the 1950s to the early 2000s, collected by Toronto artist and educator Zun Lee. These lost, discarded or abandoned images of birthdays, graduations and family reunions contain powerful glimpses of African American communities. The show, What Matters Most: Photographs of Black Life, includes some 500 photographs and is co-curated by Lee and the gallery's photography curator, Sophie Hackett. “For me, the power of these images is not just in what they represent, but in the many conversations they enable," Lee says in a media release. "They offer a rare glimpse into the richness of everyday Black life. They are also heartbreaking, as their loss reflects the ongoing social conditions that deem Black lives and culture disposable." The show, on view until Jan. 8, will be accompanied by a hardcover book.
The Wall-to-Wall Mural & Culture Festival, which runs until Sept. 25 in Winnipeg, started as a collective dream to bring accessible art into peoples’ everyday lives. This year, the community-focused festival highlights murals, music and mentorship, culminating with a final celebration with art, music and dance. Its goal is to lift up artists, musicians and performers from under-supported communities.
The Edmonton Arts Council is offering grants of $500 to $10,000 for organizations, festivals and live venues affected by the pandemic. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Go here to learn more.
The Capture Photography Festival in Vancouver is seeking exhibition proposals for its next festival in April. Submissions will be accepted starting Sept. 8. Read more here.
Other stories of interest:
Donald Sobey's sexual assault of a young man was an open secret. Now his victim is finally telling his story. Globe and Mail, Aug. 23, 2022.
Canadian cartoonist Seth wears his French knighthood with ease. Globe and Mail, Sept. 2, 2022.
The AGO is showcasing 150 years of Canadian queer art, from the 1800s to today. CBC Arts, Aug. 25, 2022.
Who was meant for Kodak moments? This artist confronts the racial bias that shaped colour photography. CBC Arts, Aug. 29, 2022.