Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology Workshops
Unsettling/Indigenizing Museology (UIM)Upcoming: TTTM Annual Workshop + Native American Arts Studies Association Conference
TTTM’s UIM Cluster and the Native American Arts Studies Association (NAASA) will bring together cultural agents across Turtle Island for the 24th NAASA Conference in Halifax/Kjipuktuk between October 11th - 14th, 2023. The conference will reflect on 30 years of decolonial exhibition practices and institutional interventions from 1992 to the present and will consider the future of Indigenous museology in arts and cultural institutions. The UIM cluster is collaborating with other TTTM clusters to plan programming and foster cross-cluster communication and networking during the event.
NAASA Board Members and TTTM UIM members conference planning trip to Halifax, August 2022
February 8, 2022: Approaches to Unsettling, Indigenizing, and Decolonizing from Within Institutions
Organized by: UIM cluster members Heather Igloliorte, Jonathan Lainey, and Carla Taunton, with support from Research Assisstants Sarah Brooks and Karina Roman Justo.
Co-hosted with: Partner Organization, the McCord Museum.
Presenters:
Andrea Fatona, OCAD University, Toronto, ON, Canada;
Emily Keenleyside, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada;
Julia LaFreniere, Winnipeg Art Gallery - Qaumajuq, Winnipeg, MB, Canada;
Michelle Lavallee, Indigenous Art Section, CIRNA, Ottawa, ON, Canada;
Angus Leendertz, Camissa Museum, Cape Town, South Africa;
Amy Lonetree, University of California Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA, USA;
Michelle McGeough, Concordia University, Montreal, QC, Canada.
Kayla Rudderham, NSCAD University, Kjipuktuk/Halifax, NS, Canada;
Joanna Wawrzyniak, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
“Approaches to Unsettling, Indigenizing, and Decolonizing from Within Institutions” was a two-part conversational workshop that invited art and museum professionals working from broad theoretical positions and institutional frameworks to reflect on what it means to ‘decolonize’ collections and museums from an insider’s perspective.
Each session featured framing remarks from a series of panelists who introduced past and current projects as a way of thinking through the practices and processes of Indigenizing, unsettling, and decolonizing museums from their institutional, disciplinary, and personal perspectives. These conversations were an opportunity for the TTTM network to frankly discuss strategies for not only transforming institutions, but also for addressing the interpersonal challenges often faced by individuals doing this difficult and necessary work.
“Approaches to Unsettling, Indigenizing, and Decolonizing from Within Institutions” aimed to honour, foreground, and prioritize Indigenous-led conversations; sought to build BIPOC alliances; and further critical white settler responsibilities.
Below is a collection of excerpts and insights from workshop presenters (collected by Karina Roman Justo (TTTM RA) and Simone Cambridge (TTTM Communications Coordinator)) on how they approach these issues from within their institutions:
team members
Heather Igloliorte
Heather Igloliorte is a Nunatsiavummiuk-Newfoundlander from Happy Valley - Goose Bay, NL. She is the University Research Chair in Indigenous Circumpolar Arts at Concordia University in Tiohtiá:ke (Montreal), where she is the Director of the “Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership” project and Co-Director of the Indigenous Futures Research Centre. Her research focuses on circumpolar Indigenous art histories, material and new media art practices, research-creation, critical museology, and curatorial studies. She has been a curator for 17 years and is a founding member of GLAM Collective.
Role: Co-Investigator + Coordinating Committee
Cluster: Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology
Sarah Brooks
Sarah Brooks is an artist and craftsperson based in Punamu’kwati’jk (Dartmouth, NS), and is from the Mi’kmaq community of Sɨkɨpne'katik First Nation, on Mi’kma’ki (Nova Scotia). She graduated from NSCAD University in 2019, receiving her BFA with a major in Textiles and a minor in Art History. Since 2019, Sarah has been employed through CMM (Confederacy of Mainland Mi’kmaq) and St. Mary’s University, contributing to the project titled T’an Weji-sqalia’tiek: Mi’kmaw Place Names. Sarah is currently an MFA candidate (2022) at NSCAD University in Kjipuktuk (Halifax, NS).
Role: Research Assistant Cluster: Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology
Jonathan Lainey
Jonathan Lainey is the Curator of Indigenous Cultures at the McCord Museum in Montreal. Previously, he was Curator at the Canadian Museum of History and Archivist at Library and Archives Canada. Jonathan's research interests include the political and cultural history of Indigenous peoples in Quebec and Canada, and the history of objects and collections. Jonathan is a member of the Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake, and has a background in Anthropology and a MA in History from Laval University.
Role: Collaborator
Cluster: Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology
Karina Roman Justo
Karina Roman Justo is an emerging writer, researcher and educator based in Tiohtià:ke (Montreal). She holds a BA in Visual and Critical Studies from OCAD University, where she was the recipient of the Graduation Award in 2020. There she also led the Journal of Visual and Critical Studies. She has published reviews in diverse publications like C Magazine and The Senses and Society. Karina coordinated the Mentorship Program at Sur Gallery (2019-2020) and curated the program’s culminating “Making Spaces” exhibitions. She was also the education assistant at the Textile Museum of Canada (2020-2021). Karina’s wide research interests include decolonial theory, textiles, and others. She is currently an Art History MA candidate at Concordia University.
Role: Research Assistant
Cluster: Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology
Carla Taunton
Carla Taunton, PhD, a white-settler scholar, is Associate Professor in the Division of Art History and Contemporary Culture at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCAD) in Mi’kma’ki and is the Special Advisor to the VP Academic and Research, Social Justice, and Decolonization. She works as an independent curator and is a founding member of the GLAM Collective. Her research contributes to arts-based critiques of settler colonialism and engages with theories of decolonization and settler responsibility. Currently, Taunton is part of numerous national and international research teams including “The Space Between Us; Counter Memory Activism” and “Inuit Futures”.
Role: Co-Investigator
Cluster: Unsettling and Indigenizing Museology