ON THE SHORES OF ODOONABII-ZIIBI: Anishinaabe Art from the Trent University Art Collection Curated by Jon Lockyer ogojiwanong (“the place at the end of has, through the dedicated work of considerable gaps in the collection’s representation of While Morrisseau the rapids”), known by its colonial name – Indigenous community members, Anishinaabe art practices. Most notably the collection, came to popularize NPeterborough – is the traditional home of the become a renowned centre for and by extension this exhibition, does not include work the Woodlands Anishinaabe people.1 The Anishinaabe as a collective Indigenous intellectual thought by Anishinaabe women. This is a glaring omission given style, the Kakegamic people are composed of the Algonquin, Mississauga, and cultural production across the the importance of Daphne Odjig, Rebecca Belmore, brothers (Goyce, Nipissing, Ojibwe (Chippewa), Odawa (Ottawa), country. Bonnie Devine, and Maria Hupfield, among others, to not Josh, and Roy), and Potawatomi and Saulteaux nations. Sites such as only the development of Anishinaabe art practices, but their founding of the This extends beyond the Petroglyphs Provincial Park and Serpent Mounds contemporary art in Canada more broadly. Their work Triple K Co-operative Kakegamic Roy classroom setting. In the 50 Park are evidence of the continuous occupation of has been invaluable to their respective communities, as Inc. allowed for Anishinaabe artists to produce high years since Trent University’s the land by Indigenous peoples, and hold cultural well as the raising of a consciousness around the work of quality prints of their work, allowing them greater founding, the institution has significance to contemporary Anishinaabe peoples Anisihinaabe artists. With that said, the exhibition features access to the Canadian commercial art world, as quietly accumulated an impressive and their communities. The Anishinaabe communities work by Anishinaabe artists who have, in their own ways, well as greater control in the dissemination of their collection of contemporary and of Hiawatha, Curve Lake, Alderville, and Scugog played a major role in the advancement of not just own artwork. The work of Morrisseau, along with historical artworks from both Island surround the city, while countless numbers of Anishinaabe art, but Indigenous art practices within the the Kakegamic brothers and others, would pave the Canadian and international artists Norval Morrisseau Indigenous peoples call Peterborough their home. broader community of Canadian contemporary art. way for a new generation of Anishinaabe artists who of various cultural backgrounds. Nogojiwanong/Peterborough is a region rich in the emerged in the mid-1980s. Perhaps the most impressive sub-collection within the The artwork in On the Shores of Odoonabii-ziibi is part traditions of Anishinaabe culture, but the influence and Trent University Art Collection is of work produced by of two distinct sub-groups. The first, and perhaps most The second group of works consists of six works by importance of this culture often goes unrecognized Indigenous artists who live and work in the territory now well known aesthetic of contemporary Anishinaabe a single artist. Born May 24, 1943 at M’Chigeeng First by contemporary settler communities. It is in this spirit known as Canada. This sub-collection reflects the diverse artistic practices is the Woodlands School. The style and Nation (formerly West Bay, Manitoulin Island), Carl of recognition and shared history that On the Shores aesthetic sensibilities of various Indigenous cultural groups its origins are connected to a movement by Anishinaabe Beam is easily one of the most prolific Anishinaabe of Odoonabii-ziibi: Anishinaabe Art from the Trent and individuals from across the country. In an effort to artists who sought to represent traditional oral histories and artists to emerge in the last 30 years. Known for his University Art Collection was approached. reflect the aesthetic practices of Anishinaabe artists who contemporary stories of their culture and people. The style large-scale mixed media constructions and wide • • • have lived and worked within the region, On the Shores of emerged in the late 1950s and was seen in the practices array of prints, Beam’s stylistic shift away from the Odoonabii-ziibi reflects the contemporary sensibilities of a of artists working in both northern and southern Ontario, Woodlands School was representational of an entire Trent University makes its home in Nogojiwanong/ small sampling of Anishinaabe artists who produced work but was most often associated with individuals living generation of Anishinaabe artists who were formally Peterborough, straddling the shores of the Odoonabii- between the late 1950s and early 2000s. and working in the various communities of Ekaentouton trained, and who embraced both cultural traditions ziibi, or the river European settlers named the (present-day Manitoulin Island). and the aesthetic trends of Western contemporary Otonabee. The origin of the river’s name is derived This exhibition is not meant to be a comprehensive survey art. Beam was also part of a generation of Indigenous from the Nishnaabeg word Odenabe, which translates of Anishinaabe art,3 but rather a small sample of Anishinaabe Norval Morrisseau is often championed as the originator artists who pushed for greater representation in to “the river that beats like a heart.”2 The university artwork held in the Trent University Art Collection. There of the Woodlands aesthetic. Born March 14, 1931 at Bingwi mainstream galleries and museums across the country. are, like almost all permanent collections of artwork, Neyaashi Anishinaabek (formerly the Sand Point Ojibwe In 1986, through considerable lobbying from Beam and Reserve), Morrisseau’s work has become synonymous with the advocacy organization, the Society for Canadian the 1960s resurgence of contemporary Anishinaabe art in 1. In addition to Anishinaabe peoples, the Peterborough region has at various points through history, been occupied by Mohawk Artists of Native Ancestry (SCANA), Beam was the peoples. Canada. A prolific artist, Morrisseau’s work is prominently first Indigenous artist to have their work purchased 2. Leanne Simpson, Dancing on our Turtle’s Back: Stories of Nishnaabeg Re-Creation, Resurgence and a New Emergence, featured throughout the exhibition, with notable highlights by the National Gallery of Canada as part of the (Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring Publishing, 2001), 95. from the artist’s early embracement of the “X-ray” style that 3. For a recent example of such an exhibition, see Before and After the Horizon: Anishinaabe Artists of the Great Lakes. institution’s collection of contemporary art. Beam would become synonymous with the Woodlands School. The exhibition was co-organized by the Art Gallery of Ontario and the National Museum of the American Indian, and co-curated Continued on the reverse. by David Penny and Gerald McMaster. was also part of two landmark exhibitions in 1992 upbringing and exposure to contemporary Anishinaabe, as While the work in the exhibition has been informed by a – Land Spirit Power: First Nations at the National well as Western cultural customs, politics, and current events. distinct Anishinaabe culture and worldview, it is meant to Gallery of Canada (National Gallery of Canada), As Carl Beam states, “I consider my work as valid as someone provoke a critical consideration of the individual positions ON THE SHORES and Indigena: Contemporary Native Perspectives decorating a war shield before going into battle, if I weren’t we all occupy in contemporary society, regardless of our (Canadian Museum of Civilization, now Canadian living in this day and age, then I might be doing just that.”4 racial or cultural background. OF ODOONABII-ZIIBI Museum of History), that not only challenged the Beam’s body of work confronts the legacy of European Anishinaabe Art from the – Jon Lockyer ’04, Director, Artspace disproportionate underrepresentation of Indigenous colonization and its lasting effects on Anishinaabe culture. Trent University Art Collection artists in mainstream galleries, but also the legacy of At the same time, Beam refuses to allow his artwork to be Jon Lockyer is a curator, educator, and writer from Toronto, colonization in the Americas. relegated as “authentically Indian,” asserting that he creates Ontario. Lockyer’s interest as a curator focuses on issues of social work for thinking individuals.5 Beam’s work is, in many ways, and political engagement, and that challenges the aesthetic and In curating this exhibition, I do not offer a definition a perfect encapsulation of On the Shores of Odoonabii-ziibi’s pedagogical boundaries of contemporary art. He received his BA of what Anishinaabe art is. Rather, I have attempted from Trent University in Canadian Studies (2008), and completed an aim as an exhibition. to present work created by artists who share a MFA at OCAD University in Criticism and Curatorial Practice (2014). distinct cultural background that has, in some way, influenced their artistic production. Their work amounts to a personal worldview or statement in 4. Elizabeth McLuhan, “Fragments: Portrait of an Artist in Time,” The Native Perspective, (3:2, 1978). time made as an individual, but informed by their 5. John K. Grande, Balance: Art and Nature, (Montreal: Black Rose Books, 1994) 179. On the Shores of Odoonabii-ziibi: Anishinaabe Art from the Trent University Art Collection List of works 7. Norval Morrisseau, Bear Power, Enweying,