Article content continued

Some art buffs may notice that several Canadian “icons” are missing from the revamped McLean Centre, said Uhlyarik, with some paintings by Group of Seven-adjacent artists Emily Carr and Tom Thomson having found a new home elsewhere in the gallery, while other pieces were tucked away into storage.

“We may get in crap for that,” Nanibush deadpanned to her colleague, but when pressed, she struck more equivocal tone.

“My feeling is we can’t assume that people are going to criticize. We have to assume that people are going to fall in love with these artists.”

In addition to a gallery featuring a rotation of solo exhibitions mostly by artists of colour, Nanibush said parts of the centre will exclusively display Indigenous-created works, serving as a vital incubator for intercultural expression.

It also marks AGO’s fifth space dedicated to Indigenous art, which Nanibush acknowledged as a “big change” from what was formerly a single hallway.

“Fundamentally, colonialism is about land,” said Nanibush. “Real estate in the building does matter in terms of what an institution’s commitments to Indigenous artists are.”

In keeping with the curatorial shift, Nanibush said she and Uhlyarik think of the AGO’s Inuit art and sculptures not as works the gallery owns, but a collection to be held “in trust” for the Indigenous community to whom it actually belongs.

“And that, let me tell you, the institution feels very uncomfortable about,” Uhlyarik added.

Nanibush said she hopes gallery-goers walk away from the centre with an enriched appreciation of the complex history that has shaped the country’s artistic expression, as well as newfound enthusiasm for the contemporary Indigenous artists she believes are poised to carve out Canada’s creative future.

“We follow the artists’ lead,” Nanibush said. “They’ve tapped into the future that’s present right now, so as they look, we get to look with them.”