Art History Speaker Series

Indigenous traditions of representation, grounded in belief systems, worldviews and visual arts that are distinct to each nation or tribe, offer a complex and fascinating field of study. While engaging with Western artistic conventions, Native American creative practices transmit and sustain the cultural knowledge of a tribe over generations. 

In my talk, I will present first a background and context of Indigenous creative production and interconnections with Western cultural traditions. I will then look at museum representation of Indigenous visual arts and how this has shifted in recent decades, as a new kind of institution has emerged: North American Indigenous museums or cultural centres established by First Peoples nations. Grounded in Indigenous purposes and practices of representation, these spaces narrate Indigenous histories, connected to ongoing cultural traditions.