©2008 Byron Kim (The Museum of Modern Art)
Byron Kim’s Synecdoche, a 1991 work from the artist which explores the complexities of identity politics and visual markers of identity; the painting is composed of renderings of individual skin colors which the artist acquired by copying said colors from members of his community. It is thus an abstracted portrait presented in a reductionist manner, diluting individuals down to merely the facade of their complexions.
During my time spent at the AGO thus far, conducting research pertinent to arts-based pedagogies and the contemporary approaches to school & family programming by other renowned international arts institutions, one concern seems to stand out (if be it ever so slightly) amongst a sea of a very worthy many:
Decolonization.
What does it mean to decolonize something?
What role does the art institution play in the actualization of such complex processes?
As per writer Ted Loos, of The New York Times, decolonization is a movement that "demands that institutions account for their role in the histories of colonialism." Of the many core components underlying the movement's foundation, is the notion that there is a necessity to view artworks made by Indigenous peoples as what it is- art- and not as some ethnographic material providing a deeper look into a problematically exoticized other. Art historian and curator Ruth B. Phillips posits that the indigenization of Canadian art institutions and museums was spurred by two pivotal events of the 20th century in Canada: the imposition of the “Indians of Canada” exhibit at the venerable Expo 67 in Montreal, which critiqued normative Indigenous-settler narratives, and secondly the widespread protests held by Indigenous leaders and communities in response to the 1969 White Paper (a bill posed by the Canadian government which planned to amalgamate all peoples of Canada into an ostensibly cohesive whole, erasing and problematizing Indigenous identity and rights in the process). These issues are inextricably linked to the politics of identity- in layman's terms, who gets to inscribe who? From the perspective of the art institution, an arena which has the privilege of ascribing and inscribing value and legitimacy to various identities, navigating such concerns is inevitably a tempestuous ordeal- which doesn't have a be-all-end-all answer or a quick fix.
©2014 Robert Houle (Art Gallery of Ontario)
Robert Houle’s 2014 Seven Grandfathers, an installation work paying homage to Houle’s Indigenous roots while also asking viewers to more critically engage with an institution that was in many ways founded on the silencing or subordinating of marginal histories and narratives
The AGO has been taking multiple steps to address the concern of decolonizing the art institution. Nearly one third of the AGO is devoted to Indigenous artists, including the exhibiting of the now recently finished Rebecca Belmore exhibit, Facing the Monumental. The AGO is also one of only a handful of arts institutions worldwide that has an Indigenous curator leading the way for the curation of Indigenous art at the gallery, Wanda Nanibush, who recently addressed the revamping and renaming of the AGO's J.S McLean Centre for Canadian Art to the J.S McLean Centre for Indigenous and Canadian Art in a press release in April of this year, stating that the Centre "will enable the AGO to showcase contemporary Indigenous art in conversation with Canadian art, and to highlight critical discussions about identity, the environemt, history, and sovereignty." The press release also noted that the new name change acknowledges "the historical and contemporary position of Indigenous art as existing prior to and extending beyond Canada's borders." In a further act of attempted decolonization within the gallery, leading curators at the gallery (including Nanibush) have elected to position didactic wall texts for all artworks in the McLean Centre in a particular manner: organized from top to bottom in three different languages- Anishinaabe (on the top), followed by English and French- acknowleding the presence, validity, agency and importance of Indigenous identities and cultures.
Despite the relatively intuitive nature of such steps, the best path toward a decolonized art institution is not as clear-cut as some may imagine it to be. Noted by Loos in the aforementioned New York Times article, the AGO recently renamed a painting done by Group of Seven member Emily Carr, from the pejoratively-connoted "Indian Church" to "Church in Yuquot Village"- a decision which had its fair share of both supporters and dissidents. Most notably perhaps, is that of the opinion of Indigenous artist Robert Houle (whose Seven Grandfathers artwork is shown photographed above), who rejected the name change, calling it "political correctness" and stating that he wouldn't want anyone to have precedent over changing the name of any of his own work. Evidently, the solution to the decolonization problem is not a one-size-fits all answer, on either side of the Indigenous-settler dichotomy. To this end, Richard William Hill, the Canadian Research Chair in Indigenous Studies at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, has been quoted saying that "all ideas are potentially dangerous"- pointing to the complexity of positing answers to questions wherein a vast multiplicty of people, perspectives, and narratives are inextricably bound.
©1929 Emily Carr (Art Gallery of Ontario)
Church at Yuquot Village
Despite the many opinions at play within the decolonization question, one opinion takes rightful precedence: that an awareness of the constructed nature of identity be paid ample mind as institutions and patrons alike move forward in addressing such concerns as decolonization and identity politics. Despite the truth of such constructions, Richard William Hill warns of there being a danger in too rigidly demarcating Indigenous artistic practice as substantively different from the mainstream; suggesting that there should not be concern over "which tool is properly ours [or 'theirs']." Furthering this thought, he wonders what the mechanism by which such divisions in the arts may even be made possible would look like, asking "in purely practical terms, how would you bracket off Indigenous culture...it has become increasingly difficult to assign ownership of particular [art-related] approaches exclusively to a particular cultural tradition." Although a universal answer may never be formulated, art institutions such as the AGO are cognizant of the importance of such concerns, and seek to help lead the way toward getting as close as possible to an answer that adequately addresses such contested problems. Here's to hoping that gallery-goers alike take note.
Citations
"AGO's New Department of Indigenous and Canadian Art Launches Major Exhibitions by Kenojuak Ashevak and Tim Pitsuliak, and Rebecca Belmore" Art Gallery of Ontario. Accessed November 25th 2018. https://ago.ca/press-release/agos-new-department-indigenous-and-canadian-art-launches-major-exhibitions-kenojuak
Hill, Richard William. "Is There an Indigenous Way to Write About Indigenous Art?" Canadian Art. Accessed November 25th 2018. https://canadianart.ca/essays/indigenous- way-write-indigenous-art/
Loos, Ted. "A Canadian Museum Promotes Indigenous Art. But Don't Call it 'Indian'" New York Times. Accessed November 25th 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/13/arts/design/art-gallery-of-ontario-indigenous-art.html
Madill, Shirley. "Robert Houle: Life and Work" Art Canada Institute. Accessed November 25th 2018. https://www.aci-iac.ca/art-books/robert-houle/significance-and-critical- issues/#revisioning-representation