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Title Page WitnessWitness Edited by Bonnie Devine Selected Proceedings of Witness A Symposium on the Woodland School of Painters Sudbury Ontario, October 12, 13, 14, 2007 Edited by Bonnie Devine A joint publication by the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness Book design Red Willow Designs Red Willow Designs Copyright © 2009 Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness www.aboriginalcuratorialcollective.org All rights reserved under international copyright conventions. Published in conjunction with the symposium of the same title, October 12 through 15, 2007. Photographs have been provided by the owners or custodians of the works reproduced. Photographs of the event provided by Paul Gardner, Margo Little and Wanda Nanibush. For Tom Peltier, Jomin The Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and Witness gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council Cover: Red Road Rebecca Belmore October 12 2007 Image: Paul Gardner Red Willow Designs Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness iii Acknowledgements This symposium would not have been possible without the tremendous effort and support of the Art Gallery of Sudbury. Celeste Scopelites championed the proposal to include a symposium as a component of the Daphne Odjig retrospective exhibition and it was her determination and vision that sustained the project through many months of preparation. Under her leadership the gallery staff provided superb administrative assistance in handling the myriad details an undertaking such as this requires. My thanks in particular to Krysta Telenko, Nancy Gareh- Coulombe, Krista Young, Mary Lou Thomson and Greg Baiden, chair of the Art Gallery of Sudbury board of directors, for their enthusiasm and support. The Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council provided vital funding for Witness. Thank you in particular to Louise Profeit LeBlanc, Aboriginal Arts Coordinator at the Canada Council and Wanda Nanibush and Sara Roque, Aboriginal Arts Officers at the Ontario Arts Council. Many artists contributed to the spectacle and celebration that was Witness. To Rebecca Belmore, De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, Gloria May Eshkibok, Jacques and the Shakey Boys, Darla Fisher Odjig, Georgina Toulouse and the artists who presented their work in the open forum, Ahmoo Angeconeb, Jason Baerg, Christi Belcourt, Rvn Chartrand-Hunter, Darla Fisher Odjig and Dolly Peltier, Chi Miigwech, thank you. This publication of selected proceedings of the symposium was made possible by a partnership with the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective, (ACC). I’d like to thank Ryan Rice, chair of ACC, for the suggestion to collaborate on the publication and launch it on the ACC website as a downloadable book. Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness iv A special thank you to publication designer Tania Willard of Red Willow Designs for her creative approach and her patience. Finally, I’d like to thank the artists and scholars who travelled from across the continent to present their ideas and research at Witness. They are beginning the work of writing an indigenous art history in an indigenous voice. The opportunity to meet them and hear them speak was an honour and privilege for all who attended. Their insight, diligence and generosity is the spirit of Witness. Chi-miigwech, Thank you. Bonnie Devine Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness v Contents Introduction viii Witness Symposium Agenda x Welcome Statements xii Celeste Scopelites, Director/Curator Art Gallery of Sudbury x i i Angela Recollet, Laurentian University viii Darla Fisher Odjig, Artist x Carolyn Vesely, Ontario Arts Council xi Louise Profeit-LeBlanc, Canada Council for the Arts Contributing Writers: Biographies xiii Manitoulin Crucible of Creativity: 2 Margo Little The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc., 20 The Indian Group of Seven Joseph Sanchez Algonkian Pictographic Imagery 36 Sherry Farrell Racette Critical Issues in Art Education 54 Tom Peltier Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness vi In the Spirit of our Ancestors: 66 Who We Are and Where We Come From Sandy Wabegijig An Ojibwa in Paris 84 Robert Houle The Modernists: 96 The Art of Daphne Odjig and Oscar Howe Barry Ace An Anishnaabe Tale 130 Leland Bell Glenna Matoush, Requickening 140 Ryan Rice A Curator Reflects, 152 Towards a Haudenausaunee Perspective Greg Hill Alex Janvier, Closing Remarks 164 Carrying the Vision Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness vii Introduction, Bonnie Devine 2-3 pgs Introduction The gathering in Sudbury called Witness brought together some of the most influential and renowned artists and scholars in the world of contemporary Canadian Aboriginal art. Hosted by the Art Gallery of Sudbury and Laurentian University from October 11 to 14, 2007, Witness coincided with the opening of The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig, a Retrospective Exhibition, at the Art Gallery of Sudbury. Aboriginal artists, activists, curators and art historians came together for a weekend of talk and celebration to honour Daphne Odjig, and reflect on the history, current state and future of contemporary Aboriginal art, especially the Anishnaabe style that emerged in the 1960s in Ontario and came to be known as the Woodland School. Among the noted guests, performers and speakers at the symposium were Daphne Odjig, performance artists Rebecca Belmore and De- ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group; painters Leland Bell, Blake Debassige, Robert Houle, Alex Janvier and Joseph Sanchez; curators Barry Ace, Greg Hill and Ryan Rice; scholars and educators Tom Peltier, Sherry Farrell Racette, and Sandra Wabegijig and historians Alan Corbiere and Margo Little. Witness was particularly honoured to welcome Daphne Odjig, Alex Janvier, and Joseph Sanchez, who are the surviving members of Professional Native Artists Inc., popularly known as the Indian Group of Seven. This seminal group formed in the early 1970s in Winnipeg and also included Norval Morriseau, Jackson Beardy, Carl Ray, and Eddie Cobiness. In his paper, Joseph Sanchez describes the origins and enduring influence of this collective of artists of Native ancestry. Presentations by Barry Ace, Ryan Rice, and Greg Hill provide contemporary and Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness viii Introduction, Bonnie Devine 2-3 pgs historical curatorial perspectives. Leland Bell, Sandra Wabegijig, the late Tom Peltier, all of Wikwemikong, and artist and art historian Dr. Sherry Farrell Racette of Timiskaming, offer illuminating context and historical background toward an understanding and appreciation of Woodland pictorial traditions, while Robert Houle’s paper offers a rare glimpse into an artist’s imaginative and investigative process. Finally, impromptu closing remarks by Alex Janvier remind us of the inspiration and fortitude that sustains and drives all creative endeavour. Two memorable performance pieces premiered at Witness. The first, Red Road, by Rebecca Belmore, took place on a winding rain-soaked path outside the Fraser Auditorium on the grounds of Laurentian University. Lit by a parked car’s headlights and the light of lampposts, the audience watched Belmore enact the passionate commitment of an artist at her work. Dear Daphne, created and performed by De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, was a beautifully staged series of vignettes, which were punctuated by statements read by the young actors to Odjig, who was seated in the audience. Witness was a celebration and an education. Old friendships were renewed, new ones begun. Young artists met their idols, elders saw the promise of the future. The Aboriginal Curatorial Collective in collaboration with Witness is pleased and honoured to present this collection of selected proceedings of the historic event. Bonnie Devine Witness Artistic Director and Editor 2009 Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness ix Witness: A Symposium on the Woodland School Agenda October 11 – 14, 2007 A collaborative production by Bonnie Devine and the Art Gallery of Sudbury Venues: Art Gallery of Sudbury Thursday October 11, 2007 The Fraser Auditorium, Art Gallery of Sudbury Laurentian University 6 pm to 9 pm 1500 Pub and Grill Opening Reception Sudbury Ontario The Drawings and Paintings of Daphne Odjig; A Retrospective Exhibition Friday October 12, 2007 Fraser Auditorium, Laurentian University 9 am to 5:30 pm Honour Song: Debbie Robertson Welcome: Celeste Scopelites, Art Gallery of Sudbury, Angela Recollet , Laurentian University Address to Daphne Odjig: Darla Fisher Odjig Symposium presentations: Margo Little, Manitoulin: Crucible of Creativity Alan Corbiere: Origins of the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation Joseph Sanchez, The Formation of Professional Native Artists Inc., The Indian Group of Seven Sherry Farrell Racette, Algonkian Pictographic Imagery Thomas Peltier, Critical Issues in Art Education Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Witness x Open Forum, Artists’ presentations of their current work: Ahmoo Angeconeb, Jason Baerg, Christi Belcourt, Rvn Chartrand-Hunter, Darla Fisher Odjig, Dolly Peltier 8 pm to 10 pm Two performances Rebecca Belmore, Red Road De-ba-jeh-mu-jig Theatre Group, Dear Daphne Saturday October 13, 2007 Fraser Auditorium, Laurentian University 9 am to 5:30 pm Sandra Wabegijig, In the Spirit of our Ancestors: Who We Are and Where We Come From Robert Houle, An Ojibwa in Paris Barry Ace, The Modernists: the Art of Daphne Odjig and Oscar Howe Blake Debassige, Untitled Presentation Leland Bell, An Anishnaabe Tale Ryan Rice, Glenna Matoush, Requickening Greg Hill, A Curator Reflects, Towards a