Aboriginal Curator in Residence
Program, P.2310
- Identifier
- P.2310
- Category
- Visual Arts
- Date
- September 1, 2014
- Description
-
The Board and staff at Open Space are honoured to be working with Aboriginal Curator, France Trépanier. Her position is supported by a BC Arts Council’s Enhanced Capacity Grant and is one of a handful of permanent Aboriginal Curatorial positions in Canada. Previously, Trépanier’s work at Open Space was supported by the Canada Council for the Arts. Upcoming at Open Space will be Deconstructing Comfort, an exhibition opening in September, as part of the Primary Colours / Couleurs Primaires initiative and in partnership with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and Comox Valley Art Gallery.
As Trépanier explains: “I am excited to focus my vision at Open Space, which provides an environment conducive to innovative curatorial propositions. My work is process-based. I am interested in creating settings, spaces and moments – multiple entry points by which Aboriginal communities can engage with contemporary art on their
own terms. I am also inspired by the notion of the ‘ethical space of engagement’, developed by Indigenous scholar Willie Ermine. This space is developed when different people, with different worldviews, are willing to respectfully engage with each other and create new ways of seeing and understanding.”
Trépanier will represent Canada in the Indigenous Curatorial Delegation at the prestigious 2017 Venice Biennale. Trépanier was selected by the Canada Council for the Arts to be part of the International Indigenous Curatorial Exchange Program, a three-year initiative with curators in Australia and New Zealand.