Indigenous, Queer and BIPOC creatives sparked deep reflection and passionate celebration at imagineNATIVE’s annual Art Crawl.
By: Grace Henkel
Onsite Gallery: “On Americanity & Other Experiences of Belonging”
The Art Crawl, a tour of several different exhibitions in Tsí Tkaròn:to, or the original name of Toronto in the Mohawk language, opened at OCAD’s Onsite Gallery with the exhibition “On Americanity & Other Experiences of Belonging.”
The variety of digital, sensory and multimedia installations examines evolving perceptions of and relationships to Abya Yala (or the Americas), by those who inhabit the continent.
In “On Americanity,” Indigenous creatives and researchers from a multitude of places and perspectives, including Bacatá (Bogotá), Tiohtiá:ke/Mooniyang (Montréal), and Tsi Tkarón:to (Toronto) explore the complex realms of diasporic experience, cross-generational knowledge and healing and de-colonialism.
“Passing through the Heart” by Immony Mèn and Patricio Dávila employs digital video essays and tangible foodstuffs to convey how meal preparation can anchor diasporic communities in memory and belonging.
Eddy Firmin’s “Punching Bags,” a dynamic sculpture of rotating porcelain faces, addresses colonial histories of the French Caribbean while embedding themes of reconciliation and resilience across generations.
A Space Gallery: Celestial Bodies and Big’Uns by Dayna Danger
The artwork of Dayna Danger, a Two-Spirit/Metis-Saulteaux-Polish artist, was featured as part of A Space Gallery’s group exhibition, “Celestial Bodies.”
Danger’s photography series “Big’Uns” initiates “a feminist discourse on hunting culture,” that confronts commodifying narratives–both of people and of the land–constructed by persisting realities of patriarchy and colonialism.
The pieces challenge preconceived notions and multilayered barriers imposed upon Indigenous and 2SLGBTQ+ folks. “Big’Uns” comprises three life-size, standing portraits of nude subjects, their skin glowing with a sheen of baby oil and antlers placed deliberately over their bodies.
“The antlers on the bottom are kind of denying your entry,” said Danger, on how the photos confront the heteronormative, colonial gaze and create a “censor” against the labels it attempts to impose. “For me, it was really important that the individuals fit under the umbrella of being women, or trans or nonbinary folks,” they said. “Anyone who’s affected by how our sexuality is represented, especially Queer sexuality.”
The artist also discussed how their work has been received and whether it can be considered “empowering.”
“If you ask the individuals themselves, they would definitely say different things,” said Danger.
Danger describes the conversation surrounding nudity and empowerment as a grey area but says that it compels the viewer to reflect on their own perceptions and biases. On the photographer-subject relationship, they added, “There’s a lot of trust you have to build.”
Danger’s exhibit also features a seventeen-minute video in which the subjects are adorned with moose antlers attached at the hips, a nod to strap-ons and other elements of erotica.
The video records the pairs’ attempts to get close to one another, and in doing so, experiment with the combined symbols of intimacy and the natural world that they wear. As the video plays, the antlers clash and lock together at the hips of the subjects, a powerful sound that emanated through the speakers as visitors circled the gallery.
“That’s when we’re getting really excited,” Danger joked at the sound.
Danger’s video piece explores “themes of closeness, of Queerness, the barriers that we as Queer people face, from a Two-Spirit Metis perspective.”
The video not only makes central the reclaiming of intimacy, joy and pleasure with the self and with others, but aims to honour the animals used to create it and by extension, the lands we live on today whose ownership and use continue to be shaped by the legacy of colonialism.
The photo collection “Alteration,” left, and the sculpture “ATUA,” right (Grace Henkel/CanCulture).
Trinity Square Video: “Alteration” and “ATUA”
The Trinity Square Video gallery showcased the works of FAFSWAG, an artist collective from Aotearoa/New Zealand, focusing on the intersection of Indigenous, 2SLGBTQ+ and BIPOC expression through futuristic media.
The sculpture ATUA engages visitors in both the physical and digital realms, with the full effect of the piece coming to life beneath a screen. As viewers hover a camera over the central obelisk, a 3D, extraterrestrial figure materializes in the centre of the room.
The photo series “Alteration” also beckons viewers to engage more intimately with the artwork through digital means. The result is a revitalized rendering of pacific cosmology that illuminates the euphoria of Queer-Indigenous futurism.
Theo Jean Cuthand’s video installation “Processing Racism Table” (Grace Henkel/CanCulture).
YYZ Artists Space: “Processing Racism Table”
A stark reminder of the ramifications of anti-Indigenous racism fell upon gallery visitors as they entered the sombre video installation, “Processing Racism Table,” by Theo-Jean Cuthand.
The project focuses on patterns in experiences of Indigenous people in Saskatchewan. Chairs sit vacant around a table as landscape scenes are projected onto the surrounding walls, through a screen of flickering snow. The table recreates the sensation of family-centred and communal spaces; at the exhibition, Cuthand explained that he wanted to infuse the piece with a reverence for those who anchored his communities–very often, the women in his family–into the piece.
Voices play over the speakers inside the installation space, attesting to the pervasive nature of systemic discrimination in daily experiences and the constraints it imposes upon free and joyful living for Indigenous peoples in the province.
Magazines from the Mariposa Folk Festival and images of Alanis Obomsawin from the 1960s and ‘70s. (Grace Henkel/CanCulture).
Art Museum at the University of Toronto: “The Children Have to Hear Another Story”
The last stop on the Art Crawl brought viewers into an intimate exchange with legendary Abenaki filmmaker, singer, artist and activist Alanis Obomsawin. Before she was even introduced to the crowd, the artist had visitors’ eyes locked on her, listening closely as she presented pieces from her vast body of work and even recalled profound personal memories and dreams.
From hand-stitched children’s toys to musical recordings, to segments of her films, including “Mother of Many Children,” Obomsawin’s works trace her extensive achievements from the 1960s to present day. The exhibition compels visitors to reflect upon the artist’s powerful storytelling, as well as the persistent vitality of Indigenous art and discourse that continues to cultivate learning and healing.
As the event came to a close an organizer noted, smiling, that Obomsawin, 91, had been up and dancing to music just before the Art Crawl visitors arrived.
