For our final learning session of this series of Diversity & Inclusion programs, volunteers are invited to listen to this First Nations International Exchange, presented by the Australian Council for the Arts, in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts: (linked here)
“Art and culture have always been at the forefront of these kinds of discussions” – Steven Loft, Canada Council for the Arts (image/quote: CBC)
This conversation is focused on the importance of First Nations, Inuit and Métis-led governance and recruitment, programming and community engagement, marketing and communications, when considering decolonization within large institutions.
The Australia Council for the Arts has a strong commitment to international exchange between Australia and Canada, and to seek opportunities to maintain and deepen relationships between artists, producers and presenters from both countries through the sharing of information, thought leadership and practice development.
This commitment is outlined in the current Letter of Agreement (LOA) between the Canada Council for the Arts and the Australia Council for the Arts, which articulates our shared values and aspirations for stronger creative and cultural relations between our two countries.
This initiative looks to bridge connections between leading Australian practitioners and their international counterparts, creative individuals, arts organizations, civic institutions and community stakeholders – to share and impart their knowledge, skills and perspectives.
We won’t be hosting a Volunteer Connector call around this session. This is a self-directed opportunity to deepen volunteers’ learning, courtesy of a link to this important conversation, shared with the AGO by the Canada Council for the Arts.
As
treaty people living in Canada,
we have an important responsibility to lifelong learning about treaties and
Nations, the lived experiences of First Nation, Inuit and Métis peoples within
the borders of Canada and to understand the conditions upon which we are to
share resources and land with the many Nations who are the original stewards of
this land for over 10,000 years.
Below you will find further resources, including our AGO Diversity & Inclusion Learning Sessions, to support your continued learning journey as we move towards renewing positive relationships and creating an inclusive Gallery that includes centering Indigenous art and cultural ways of knowing.
Reconciliation Through Indigenous
Education – a free
course by the University of British Columbia exploring how Indigenous
histories, perspectives, worldviews, and approaches to learning can be made
part of the work we do in organizations, communities, and our everyday
experiences in ways that are thoughtful and respectful. In this course,
reconciliation emphasizes changing institutional structures, practices, and
policies, as well as personal and professional ideologies to create
environments that are committed to strengthening our relationships with
Indigenous peoples.
Understanding Indigenous Perspectives:
We are all Treaty People
– free modules by the University of Toronto OISE exploring treaty rights and
how it benefits Indigenous populations and Canadians/settlers, diasporic
populations and newcomers. Learn about our rights and responsibilities as a
treaty people and understand the conditions to share land and resources with
Nations who were here first.
Engage in AGO Diversity & Inclusion
Learning sessions:
Get ready for Summer POP!Join us this July for FREE online art activities, every Monday through Thursday. These daily artmaking breaks are open to children of all ages and you can do them all at home, inside or out! Each day has something new to offer.
Each activity is inspired by Andy Warhol and the Pop art movement and they’re led by a team of creative AGO Art Instructors. You’ll discover fun new ways to express yourself with themes like Volume, Repetition, Colour and Movement.
Get started on preparing your materials now. There are simple material lists for each day — or you can simply follow along with what you have on hand! No registration is needed and sessions will be live-streamed here on AGO.ca
Stay connected with us! Sign up to receive Family, Children & Youth Programs info from the AGO.
Join celebrated historian Robin D.G. Kelley (USA), whose book Freedom Dreams explores the Black radical imagination, in conversation with renowned artists John Akomfrah (UK/Ghana) creator of Vertigo Sea—a stunning meditation on the whaling industry, the slave trade and the current migrant crisis—and Bushra Junaid (Canada), whose Two Pretty Girls… brings to life the entanglements between Newfoundland and the legacies of plantation.
Together they explore what it means to visualize freedom dreams, placing their own contemporary work in dialogue with historical images contained in the Montgomery Collection of Caribbean Photographs recently acquired by the AGO.
Moderated by Julie Crooks, AGO Curator, Arts of Global Africa and the Diaspora and curator of upcoming exhibition Fragments of Epic Memory.
The AGO and Tangled Art + Disability teamed up on a series of videos featuring the important work of six artists.
Persimmon Blackbridge. soft touch, 2019. Constructed Identities, McMaster University. Sara Wilde Photography. Courtesy of Bodies in Translation Activist Art, Technology & Access to Life. ReVision The Centre for Art & Social Justice at the University of Guelph.
Founded in 2003, Tangled Art + Disability is a Toronto-based organization dedicating itself to enhancing opportunities for artists with disabilities. Earlier this year, Tangled Art and the AGO unveiled a new collaborative project that centres the disability arts movement. Between February and June, the two groups presented six videos made by various artists from Tangled’s community, highlighting their respective practices and insights while showcasing the possibilities of a world that honours access, disability and difference.
The partnership was spearheaded by Melissa Smith, AGO Assistant Curator, Community Programs. (Linked here) take a look at all six AGO Tangled Art Talks, and stay tuned in the coming weeks for more about our partnership with Tangled Art + Disability (via AGOinsider).
This call is an opportunity for you to discuss and share what you’ve learned with other volunteers. Our focus is to create a positive space, to encourage bold and brave conversation, and to talk and grow together.
As with last month, in this session we will once again incorporate break-out rooms into our discussion, so folks have the opportunity to delve into deeper conversations with one another, in smaller groups.
To prepare for this call, we encourage you to consider the following questions: (Feel free to bring some of your own!)
What stood out to you about this
session?
What did you take away from how
Louise and Mahlikah presented indigenous art?
How do we talk about difficult
history, and not shy away from ongoing conversation?
Is there anything you learned
that will change the way your approach your volunteer role at the Gallery?
We are honoured to continue this series of Diversity & Inclusion recordings, part of the Gallery’s commitment to building a more diverse and inclusive staff and volunteer community.
In this session, we meet two of the AGO’s Indigenous Art Educators, Louise Miteouamigoukoue Spiritcougar Lefevre and Mahlikah Awe:riEnml’ga’t Saqama’sgw, who so generously share their teaching expertise with us. In this discussion, they share how Indigenous art education is presented in school programs at the Gallery. This is particularly in relation to “NAC 10” – a course for Grade 9 TDSB students that frames an expression of First Nations, Inuit and Metis culture in an immersive experience at the Gallery.
This presentation helps us to deepen our understanding of indigenous art history, and build on parts of the conversation started by Wanda Nanibush and Dr. Duke Redbird, in our last session.
Louise Miteouamigoukoue Spiritcougar Lefevre (left, image Artist’s own), and Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw (right, image Toronto Arts Council)
Agenda: Here’s What To Expect From this Recording –
Land Acknowledgment by Melissa Smith, Assistant Curator, Community Programs
Welcome by Stephan Jost, Director and CEO [5mins]
Learning Objectives and Framing of NAC10 by Audrey Hudson, Chief of Education and Programming [5mins]
Introductions by Audrey Hudson [5mins]
Questions posed by Paola Poletto [10mins]
Presentations by Louise Miteouamigoukoue Spiritcougar Lefevre and Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw [20mins each, =40mins]
Questions posed by Paola Poletto, Director, Engagement & Learning [8mins]
Enter
Passcode: D&ITrainingSession4 (hint:
copy and paste this link for ease!)
You will be asked to enter your name and email to gain access to the recording.
Things
to Keep in Mind:
These videos are pre-recorded webinars, not live.
A tip: when you register for the webinar, use Google Chrome (instead of Explorer) to watch. If your computer defaults to opening in Explorer, copy the link and re-open in Chrome (you may need to re-register) but it makes for much smoother viewing!
If you need more support, please reach out to [email protected] for assistance.
Keep a list of questions/reflections you’d like to share in one of our Volunteer Connector calls – these sessions are your opportunity to discuss and share what you’ve learned with fellow volunteers
Related
Readings – Here’s a Resource List to Learn More About the Ideas and Issues
introduced in this recording:
A Continued Conversation on Residential Schools (originally broadcast Tuesday June 8, 1pm) Moderated by Audrey Hudson, Chief of Education & Programming with panelists, Robert Durocher, Vice-Principal, Wandering Spirit School, TDSB; Jenny Kay Dupuis, Author; and Lindsay “Eekwol” Knight, Hip Hop Artist https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKpYD1n9pag&t=2s
Most recently, Mahlikah Awe:ri Enml’ga’t Saqama’sgw joined AGOinsider for an interview on Indigenous art education, and its importance for generations to come: https://ago.ca/agoinsider/we-are-land
The University of Alberta offers a complimentary course on Indigenous Canada, a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) from the Faculty of Native Studies that explores Indigenous histories and contemporary issues in Canada. From an Indigenous perspective, this course explores key issues facing Indigenous peoples today from a historical and critical perspective highlighting national and local Indigenous-settler relations.
As National Indigenous History Month continues, we’ve compiled a list of arts organizations that amplify, connect and support the advancement of Indigenous creatives.
Skawennati, IFWTO fashion film program. Image courtesy of IFWTO.
June brings a recognition of the history and heritage of First Nations, Inuit and Métis peoples in what is known as Canada. That said, it’s crucial to recognize the advancements and accomplishments of Indigenous peoples—not just this month but all year round. From visual art, curatorial practice, fashion, film, storytelling and more, Indigenous creativity encompasses a wide breadth.
By no means a comprehensive or definitive list, the organizations included here (linked, here) are just a few of many mandated to foster contemporary Indigenous creative output in Canadian and global communities. All are proudly led and operated by Indigenous peoples.
Volunteers, I wanted to share a thank you from Audrey Hudson, and an update on the Spiritual Ceremony held last week at the Gallery. – Holly
Image supplied by Audrey Hudson
Dear
Colleagues,
I want to say thank you to everyone who helped organize and participate in yesterday’s spiritual ceremony to remember and honour the thousands of children who never returned home from Residential Schools, the survivors, and all those who are still missing.
It
was beautiful.
There
were two wonderful Fire Keepers who started us off by building a sacred fire in
the pouring rain with a thank you to Creator. The medicines of tobacco,
sweetgrass, cedar and sage filled the park with goodness. The visual memorial
of shoes placed in a spiral in Walker Court was powerful as we keep the
children, survivors and families in our thoughts. Also in Walker Court, the Red
Bear Singers graced us with their hand drumming and songs that carried
resilience, pain and survivance.
The
senior Indigenous artist we worked with, who is a residential school survivor,
was truly appreciative that everyone was able to come together under the given
circumstances.
Thank
you everyone for your support.
My
best,
Audrey
Audrey Hudson
Richard & Elizabeth Currie
Chief, Education & Programming
At the Annual Meeting last week, Bob Harding, outgoing
president of the board, announced the next president of the AGO Board of
Trustees: Rupert Duchesne.
Rupert is a passionate supporter of the arts and has
served as a vice president for several years. He is a corporate executive,
advisor and director and past chair of the Brain Canada Foundation and former
director of the Toronto International Festival of Authors and the Royal
Conservatory of Music. He
was appointed CEO of Mattamy Ventures in 2020, part of Mattamy Asset
Management, and was also the founding CEO of Aimia Inc., which he led from 2005
to early 2017.
The Annual Meeting also included the appointment of
two co-chairs, Rupert Duchesne and Jay Smith, who were named to these positions
to recognized their distinguished service and significant contributions to the
AGO. For
more information, please read the media
release.
I’m sincerely grateful for Bob’s leadership of the
board over the past four years. He has been the stable foundation on which the
AGO has stood this past year, and we all owe him a massive thank you!
I look forward to working with Rupert as we continue
to advance the AGO’s mission of art, audiences and learning. It’s an exciting
time as the Province gradually reopens!
