For over 50 years, Anishnabe Saulteaux contemporary artist Robert Houle has been trailblazing. Since the Canadian Museum of History’s 1970 acquisition of his painting Red Is Beautiful, Houle’s influential work as an artist, curator, writer and educator has profoundly impacted the world of contemporary First Nations art in Canada – and globally. 

On view now, the AGO exhibition Robert Houle: Red is Beautiful surveys five decades of the artist’s monumental career and includes more than 90 large installations, paintings and drawings. Friday, December 3, 2021 – live from the AGO’s Baillie Court (and online) – was the kickoff of aabaakwad 2021, the third annual international gathering of Indigenous artists, curators and thinkers. This year, aabaakwad welcomed Robert Houle to deliver an opening keynote address, followed by a panel discussion with artists Faye HeavyShield and Barry Ace. 

We love this conversation between Curator Shirley Madill (currently of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery), and Robert Houle, “Rebels and Iconoclasts” for more perspective on Houle’s career and approach.