MONTREAL.- The transformation of the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA) continues: the fourth floor of the Claire and Marc Bourgie Pavilion has been dedicated to the presentation of temporary exhibitions that shed a new light on Quebec and Canadian art history. The very first presentation, Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers, offers deeper Indigenous perspectives on the territories we inhabit through some twenty works from the Museum’s collection created by artists from distinct northeastern confederacies, nations, and generations. Through a variety of techniques and media, these artists attest to the Indigenous art histories of recent centuries.

Rising Suns is the inaugural exhibition in a cycle that will renew each year. Combining rarely exhibited works with a substantial number of new acquisitions, this presentation of the Museum’s collection is the first to be devoted solely to artists from the Rotinonhsión:ni, Wendat, and W8banakiak Confederacies and Anishinaabeg alliances of the Great Lakes and Rivers, who have been active from the 1970s to today.

“I am delighted that the Government of Québec is supporting the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts to reinstall its collections. This support will allow the city’s celebrated museum to offer the public an opportunity to discover—or rediscover—its extraordinary treasures. Congratulations to the Museum for this exhibition showcasing the talent of Indigenous artists. It is well worth a visit,” says Mathieu Lacombe, ministre de la Culture et des Communications et ministre responsable de la région de l’Outaouais.

“With this redesign, we aim to highlight the depth and relevance of our collections. This trailblazing exhibition, examining the resurgence of Indigenous art over the past fifty years, reaffirms the Museum’s role as a keeper of memory and a place for reflection and gathering,” adds Stéphane Aquin, The Rossy Foundation Director of the MMFA.

“The Montreal archipelago, a territory facing the rising sun at the east of the continent, is considered a meeting place for Indigenous ecosystems, relationships, diplomacies, languages and oralities. Through this narrative, we wish to pay tribute to elder artists during their lifetime, and to recognize the remarkable contribution of artists who have passed on to the world of ancestors and whose influence can clearly be felt in the work of the current generation,” says Léuli Eshrāghi, Curator of Indigenous Practices at the MMFA.

A glimpse at the works on view

Through various practices—wampum beadwork, painting, photography, sculpture, video, and installation, among others—the featured artists express their views of the world and the land, which have been shaped by thousands of years of exchange, spirituality, observation and respect for nature.

The first installation of the exhibition traces the nation-to-nation exchanges that took place between Indigenous confederacies, then those that unfolded over centuries with French, Dutch, and British communities.

Visitors are able to admire wampum bead works by Nicolas Renaud (Wendat) and bead works by Renée Condo (Mi’gmaq). These artworks are being presented alongside an installation by Hannah Claus (Kanien’kehá:ka) and sculptures by Christine Sioui Wawanoloath (W8banaki and Wendat) and Marie Watt (Onödowá’ga:). The exhibition also features works on paper by Alanis Obomsawin (W8banaki) and Carl Migwans Beam (Anishinaabe) as well as a wampum mural sculpture by Greg Staats (Kanien’kehá:ka and Skaru:ręᕐ). Finally, the exhibition is rounded out with a clay sculpture by MC Snow (Kanien’kehá:ka) and photographs by Skawennati (Kanien’kehá:ka).

In the second installation, a rotation of works will shine a light on recent movements of Indigenous resistance, resurgence, and assertion of lands, waters and rights. Among these are a Tyvek® paper and neon installation by Caroline Monnet (Omàmìwinini), monumental quilts by Carla Hemlock (Kanien’kehá:ka), a work on paper by Daphne Odjig (Bodéwadmi and Odaawaa), and a large-scale installation by Robert Houle (Saulteaux).

An exhibition organized by the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.

The exhibition was curated by Léuli Eshrāghi (Tagata Sāmoa), Curator of Indigenous Practices at the MMFA, with the assistance of Katsitsanò:ron Dumoulin Bush (Kanien’kehá:ka), Indigenous art and design intern.