April 30 – June 26, 2016
Opening reception: Sunday, May 1st from 2-5pm
Contemporary Native Art Biennial, 3rd edition
Culture Shift – Une révolution culturelle
Guest curators: Michael Patten, Joyce Millar
Artist in residence: Luke Parnell (Haida, Nisga’a)
Sonny Assu (Kwakwaka’wakw), Mary Anne Barkhouse (Kwakiutl), Alison Bremner (Tlingit), Corey Bulpitt (Haida), Rande Cook (Kwakwaka’wakw), Bracken Hanuse Corlett (Wuikinuxv, Klahoose), Andrew Dexel (Nlakapamux), Dean Drever (Haida), Nicholas Galanin (Tlingit, Aleut), Marianne Nicolson (Kwakwaka’wakw), Jeneen Frei Njootli (Vuntut Gwitchin), Tsēma Tamara Skubovius (Tahltan).
Stewart Hall Art Gallery
176 Ch du Bord-du- Lac Lakeshore
Pointe-Claire (QC)
Text by Céline Le Merlus
Curator
The historical prevalence of the Western prism still shrouds the richness of contemporary Native art by unfairly relating it to the ever-rehashed post-colonial discourse. Identity claims today no longer rely on the defense of rejected achievements – a backward perspective on the promotion of differences – but rather on the assertion of a current identity. The exhibition Culture shift – Une révolution culturelle honors a number of contemporary native artists and embraces the current cultural revival that claims western influences to serve indigenous values and ancestral philosophies.
Following the success of Storytelling, the previous edition of the Contemporary Native Art Biennial organized by Art Mûr in 2014, it is with great pleasure that the Stewart Hall Art Gallery in Pointe-Claire agreed to renew this stimulating collaboration. And if the presence of the McCord Museum adds to the prestige of the event, we are especially grateful for the partnership of the Canadian Guild of Crafts this year. The editorial variety of each institution will serve to diversify our audiences but also to clarify the discourse of the project.
In this sense, we support the initiative of the curator, Michael Patten, who suggested geographic poles to enhance the regional specificity of each venue and we are grateful to have been assigned as the West Coast Pavilion, a legitimate choice for a venue located in the “West Island”. We also thank the Doggone Foundation and Joyce Millar, former Director of the Stewart Hall Art Gallery, whose generosity and dynamism made possible a six-week residency for Vancouver artist Luke Parnell. Our sincere thanks are of course extended to Rhéal Olivier Lanthier and François St-Jacques for their invitation, to their team for the exemplary organization of the biennial and all the editing work associated to the production of this catalogue. We thank the artists for their presence among us, the whole team at Stewart Hall for their support and for welcoming our visitors and finally, thank you, the public, for your participation in the immortalization of the event.
