Opening Reception: the lands refusal Making Sense of Decolonization

Meet the artists behind “the lands refusal” and “Making Sense of Decolonization”! This reception is free and open to all and will offer a preview of our latest exhibitions, which run from October 29 to December 7, 2024.

THE LANDS REFUSAL

Visiting artists Julia Rose Sutherland and Kiona Callihoo Ligtvoet come together in Union Gallery’s Main Space to present the lands refusal, an exhibition which borrows its name from the words of L.H. Stallings: “The land’s refusal to be separated from flesh.” Julia Rose, an artist of Mi’kmaq (Metepenagiag Nation) and settler descent, shares works of handmade paper and beaded hide, holding grief and kinship on and with the land. Kiona, an artist of Cree and Métis (descending from Michel Band) as well as Dutch and mixed European ancestry, shares paintings and a photo-based installation, honouring her moshom’s land and the stories it holds.

This exhibition is supported by the George Taylor Richardson Memorial Fund.

MAKING SENSE OF DECOLONIZATION

Making Sense of Decolonization: Through Artificial Intelligence, Digital, & Conventional Art Creation is an ongoing research-creation project by PhD candidate and Métis artist Carleigh Candice Mignonne Milburn. Through interactive art installations, collaborative research-creation, and discussion, Carleigh explores the intersection of Indigenous perspectives, artificial intelligence, and decolonization. This research project asks how might innovative data art collection practices in Indigenous contexts facilitate understanding of decolonization and promote meaningful relationships toward reconciliation, and to what extent can AI in art be considered decolonial?