Honouring Tradition: Reframing Native Art

Description

“I have always considered that what Native people did to adorn their clothes, their tools, and their ceremonial items was a form of ‘fine art.’ Wouldn’t it be great if this art was seen on equal terms with European masterpieces?” -Frederick McDonald, Guest Curator.

“Honouring Tradition: Reframing Native Art” brings new perspectives to historical and contemporary Aboriginal art.
To explore the diverse ways this art can be understood, the Glenbow Museum invited Aboriginal elders, leaders and artists to share their perspectives with non-Native museum staff. The resulting dialogue highlights the complexity of Aboriginal art from the Northern Plains to the sub arctic regions of Canada. Links to tradition, history and culture can be seen in artwork both old and new. From a lavishly beaded moss bag made in the 1890s, to a work created in 2006 by chiseling, drilling, sanding and assembling circuit boards, the artwork in “Honouring Tradition” celebrates the richness and complexity of the ongoing stories of the Indigenous people in this region.
These artists, whether traditional or contemporary, honour the importance of community, the connection to land and place and the tradition of storytelling.