We are on Treaty Land exhibit at WAG celebrates contemporary aboriginal art

The curator of the Winnipeg Art Gallery exhibit We are on Treaty Land, which is hosting a free public celebration on Friday night, says these are exciting times for contemporary indigenous art.

Curated by Jaimie Isaac, the WAG's curatorial resident of indigenous and contemporary art, We are on Treaty Land features paintings, prints, photographs and mixed media works from the art gallery's permanent collection by indigenous artists spanning the past 40 years.

"There's been some really amazing work paved by indigenous artists and curators, you know, since the '60s and '70s with Daphne Odjigand then different generations of people doing that, so there's definitely been some great indigenous contemporary arts movements," she told CBC's Up to Speed program.

"I think we're in a good part of the wave right now, where there's a lot of energy and a lot of things happening in the indigenous arts community, so it's nice to be a part of that."

Visitors can check out the exhibit free of charge on Friday evening, starting at 6:30 p.m., as part of a public celebration. A women's drum group and a hoop dancer will be performing.

"For the first exhibition at the WAG that I curated, I wanted really to think about where the Winnipeg Art Gallery is situated geographically, and it's located on the traditional territory of Treaty 1 and homeland of the Mtis," said Isaac, a member of the Sagkeeng First Nation.

Isaac said in addition to artwork, the exhibit features some historical indigenous objects on loan from the Manitoba Museum.

"I really wanted to ... have them function in this space as witnesses, as sort of artifactual witnesses of indigenous active presence, agency and cultural survival when we think about the signing of the treaties," she said.

"That's part of what this exhibition is about it is just sort of establish a starting point of understanding and think about current dialogue of the treaties and, you know, relations between indigenous and non-indigenous people."

Isaac added that she's been thinking about the controversial Maclean's magazine article from last year that called Winnipeg the most racist city in Canada, and she wanted to show how the artists explore issues such as racism and stereotypes.

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We are on Treaty Land has been on display since Nov. 13 and runs until May 22.