This lecture will take place in the Multi-Media Lab (room 482), Discovery Centre, MacOdrum Library starting at 2:30PM followed by a reception in the History Lounge (433 Paterson Hall).

Co-sponsored by the School of Indigenous and Canadian Studies

Abstract

Carmen Robertson proposes to trouble notions of visibility and invisibility in relation to the planning, execution, and the archiving of contemporary Indigenous art for the Indians of Canada Pavilion at Expo ‘67. Included under the auspices of the Department of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (DIAND), today the Pavilion is mostly viewed as a significant moment in the history of contemporary Indigenous arts, yet its history remains fraught with issues of censorship and colonial politics that have continued to plague the arts.

After an analysis of the art commissioned by artists from across Canada for the pavilion including works by Norval Morrisseau and Alex Janvier, the lecture will culminate with a conversation between Robertson and John Moses, a member of the Six Nations Delaware band and Carleton doctoral candidate, about the legacy of the Indians of Canada Pavilion.

About Dr. Carmen Robertson

Dr. Carmen Robertson is professor of art history at University of Regina in the MAP Faculty. An Indigenous scholar of Scots Lakota ancestry from Saskatchewan, her research centers on contemporary Indigenous arts and constructions of Indigeneity in popular culture. In 2016 she published Norval Morrisseau: Life and Art with Art Canada Institute (Toronto, 2016) and Mythologizing Norval Morrisseau: Art and the Colonial Narrative in the Canadian Media (University of Manitoba Press, 2016). In addition to essays in edited collections and such scholarly journals as American Indian Quarterly, Canadian Journal of Art History, Media History, RACAR and Third Text, Robertson also co-wrote with Mark C. Anderson the award-winning Seeing Red: A History of Natives in Canada’s Newspapers (University of Manitoba Press, 2011). An independent curator, she is curating an exhibition of new work by Dana Claxton at the MacKenzie Art Gallery for fall 2017.