Arctic/Amazon Project.
The Arctic / Amazon project is premised on the understanding that artists integrate notions of spirituality, ancestral respect, traditional knowledges, and political critique into their processes of making and presenting their work. Envisioned as a multi-phase interdisciplinary project, the initial 2019 Arctic/Amazon Symposium centralized Indigenous ontological approaches to develop interconnections between Amazonian Indigenous and Inuit thinkers, artists, and activists whose works address climate change midst shifting political times. The Symposium fostered and facilitated a collaborative framework in which participants from Inuit and primarily Brazilian-based Amazonian communities could share their knowledges and considered future work together. It was the first symposium of its kind to provide an in-depth artistic and Indigenous-led exploration of these geographies.
Further fostering collaborations between Arctic and Amazonian communities, the project continues to thrive and will culminate in several milestones: a major publication titled Arctic / Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity, an online educational resource hosted by Wapatah centre, and a Fall 2022 Arctic / Amazon Exhibition in partnership with The Power Plant Contemporary Art Gallery and Ryerson Image Centre.
Learn more about the different streams of the Arctic/Amazon project by visiting the page below.
Watapah Team Contributors
Dr. Gerald McMasterDr. McMaster has over 30 years international work and expertise in contemporary art, critical theory, museology and Indigenous aesthetics. His experience as an artist and curator in art and ethnology museums researching and collecting art, as well as producing exhibitions has given him a thorough understanding of transnational Indigenous visual culture and curatorial practice. His early interests concerned the ways in which culturally sensitive objects were displayed in ethnology museums, as well as the lack of representation of Indigenous artists in art museums. As a practicing artist, he offered a way of staging hitherto decontextualized objects different from the traditional formats favoured by exhibition designers trained in Western traditions; instead, his was an approach that rested on Indigenous epistemologies. These early stages in developing an –Indigenous visuality led him to study concepts in visual, experiential and spatial composition. His exhibition Savage Graces (1992) challenged long held views, and played a major role in breaking down conventional barriers around where art should be practiced, while also demonstrating that art is not tied to ethnicity. As a curator, he focused on advancing the intellectual landscape for Indigenous curatorship through the foundational concept of voice. He curated, for example, an exhibition called Indigena (1992) that brought together unfiltered Indigenous voices for the first time. Until then, non-Indigenous scholars had dominated discussions of Indigenous art, history and culture. McMaster made the point that Indigenous artists and writers were more than capable of representing themselves in articulate, eloquent ways. Over the past 20 years, he has continued to refine the idea of voice, leading him to ask: How can Indigenous voices continue providing new perspectives on well-researched subjects such as art, history and anthropology? Throughout his career, his championing of the mainstream value of Indigenous art, among other things, has led to his being chosen to represent Canada at a number of prestigious international events. These include his serving as Canadian Commissioner for the 1995 Venice Biennale, and as artistic director of the 2012 Biennale of Sydney, and curator for the 2018 Venice Architecture Biennale. Dr. Gerald McMasterDirector, Tier 1 Canada Research ChairDr. McMaster has over 30 years international work and expertise... |
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Dr. Michael RattrayDr. Rattray is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Wapatah under the supervision of Dr. McMaster. Before joining the centre, he was the executive editor and associate publisher at the Art Canada Institute, and the senior editor at Adbusters Magazine. He completed his PhD at Concordia University in Montreal, under the direction of Dr. Johanne Sloan. His PhD dissertation, “Functional Anarchism(s) and the Theory of Global Contemporary Art,” evaluates globalized art within an anarchist philosophical trajectory. An exhibiting artist, curator, and critic, his work on contemporary art and art history has been published or exhibited in a variety of forms. Dr. Michael RattrayPost-Doctoral FellowDr. Rattray is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Wapatah under the... |
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Natalja ChestopalovaNatalja Chestopalova is part of the Ph.D. in Communication and Culture Program at York and Ryerson Universities in Toronto. Her research is informed by the study of digital media, archival aesthetics, phenomenology, and psychoanalysis, and focuses on the transformative sensory experience and multimodality in film, graphic novel medium, and theatrical site-specific performances. With the support from the Social Science and Humanities Council of Canada (SSHRC), she has presented at multiple Canadian and International events, including roundtables & panels on new media archives, visual storytelling, and preservation of ephemeral cultural narratives. Her recent works include papers and multimodal installations on archives-of-trauma in non-fiction graphic narratives and theoretical developments in the Lacanian concept of the voice and voicelessness. Her publications appear in the White Wall Review, Canadian Journal of Communication, Dialogue, The Routledge Encyclopedia of Modernism, Sound Effects: The Object Voice in Fiction, and an essay volume on the Freudian theory of afterwardness and archives-of-feeling in comics of Alison Bechdel. Natalja ChestopalovaResearch Project ManagerNatalja Chestopalova is part of the Ph.D. in Communication and... |
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Brittany BerginBrittany Pitseolak Bergin is a research assistant at Wapatah Centre, OCAD University. Raised in Southern Ontario, her family is from Kinngait, Cape Dorset. Inspired by the artists in her family and community, including her great-grandmother and namesake Pitseolak Ashoona, Brittany’s focus at Wapatah is centred in community engagement as she continues to support major projects and outreach initiatives. Her work has been integral to the success of projects such as the Virtual Platform for Indigenous Art, Arctic/Amazon Symposium, Arctic/Amazon: Networks of Global Indigeneity exhibition and publication, and Indigenizing the (Art) Museum Virtual Series. Her most recent conferences include the Frontend Conference (Munich) and Inuit Studies Conference (Montreal). Brittany BerginResearch AssistantBrittany Pitseolak Bergin is a research assistant at Wapatah Centre,... |
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Mariah MeawasigeMariah (Makoose) is an Anishinaabe/settler and creative from the northern shores of Lake Huron. Her practice specializes in graphic design but questions the bounds of communication through illustration, sculpture, video, and performance. She created the logo for the Wapatah Centre for Indigenous Visual Knowledge and is currently working on the centre’s visual identity. Through her love of stories and storytelling, Mariah’s body of work aims to explore temporalities and place, map memories, and build relationships. Mariah MeawasigeResearch AssistantMariah (Makoose) is an Anishinaabe/settler and creative from the northern... |
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Jananda LimaJananda Lima has recently completed a Master of Design in Strategic Foresight and Innovation at OCADU. With a background in graphic design, Jananda works in social innovation with marginalized communities through co-design. Her practice also includes exploring possible futures by systemically shifting focus away from entrenched social biases. Jananda LimaResearch AssistantJananda Lima has recently completed a Master of Design in... |
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Alessia Rose PignottiAlessia is a conceptual, multimedia artist and graphic designer whose most recent artistic practice explores the notion of the creative instinct. She holds a Masters of Art (2019) from OCAD University in the Contemporary Art, Design and New Media Art Histories program, and received an Honours Bachelor of Arts (2017) from the University of Toronto in a joint program with Sheridan College. At Wapatah, Alessia is a Research Assistant supporting Dr. Gerald McMaster’s Bill Reid publication project for the Art Canada Institute. Alessia Rose PignottiAlumniAlessia is a conceptual, multimedia artist and graphic designer whose most... |
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Na’ama FreemanNa’ama Freeman is a master’s student in the Criticism and Curatorial Practice Program at OCAD University and holds a BA in History from McGill University (2018). She is interested in the intersection of art, design, and audience agency within art institutions. At Wapatah, Na’ama is a Research Assistant supporting Dr. Gerald McMaster in the Arctic Amazon Project. Na’ama FreemanResearch AssistantNa’ama Freeman is a master’s student in the Criticism and Curatorial... |
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Stefania SaraivaStefania Saraiva is currently earning a Master of Arts in Contemporary art, design, and new media at OCAD University. Her research is focused on Latin American art, particularly in relationship to dictatorships and uneven development. She is currently writing a thesis on Venezuelan art in the 1950s and 1960s. At Wapatah, Stefania is working as a research assistant to Gerald McMaster for the Arctic/Amazon project. Stefania SaraivaResearch AssistantStefania Saraiva is currently earning a Master of Arts in... |