Hello Everyone,

I’m sure you all join me in acknowledging that it’s not a bad thing that we are almost at the end of 2020. What a year it has been! Usually at this time of year we are planning for a staff and volunteer party to come together and celebrate the holiday season and the many successes we have accomplished together. Alas, we will not be doing so this year. However, I can guarantee festivities are in order once we are advised by health authorities that a massive party is safe! In the meantime, we must continue to limit gatherings, practice social distancing, wear masks and wash hands frequently. Here is the AGO’s annual holiday card, which this year features a Studio 54 theme:  http://happyholidays.ago.ca. Please feel free to use this card to extend year-end wishes to your contacts.

I am very excited about Studio 54. The installation is in full steam and is looking fantastic. Thank you to all the exhibitions staff and others who are on-site putting it all together. I think this is something our public will really enjoy once we can re-open. The themes of music, fashion, art and celebrity culture – and disco! – are a welcome tonic as we begin 2021.

For this week’s D&I resource, continuing with a focus on Indigenous perspectives, here is a video of artist, writer and curator Rick Hill discussing the intersection of Indigenous and Western knowledge and how treaties were developed based on an Indigenous philosophy of conservation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Sp0aR7UHdI.

Be well,

Stephan