Canadian Indigenous Art At Chrysler Museum In Norfolk, VA

Visitors to the Chrysler Museum of Art in Norfolk, VA have an exceedingly rare opportunity to see a survey of Canadian Indigenous artwork through September 1, 2024. On view are more than 100 objects ranging from 18th century ceremonial regalia to paintings by vanguard artists of the ’60s, ‘70s and ‘80s courtesy of the McMichael Canadian Art Collection located outside Toronto. The exhibition marks the first survey of First Nations, Inuit and Métis art to be presented internationally.

Never before outside of Canada has a better representation of this material–or more of it–been on display.

That fact, however, doesn’t make this a comprehensive survey of Canadian Indigenous artwork. Not when there are 600 First Nations communities across a landmass 3,000 miles wide, featuring 50-plus distinct languages, and uncountable variations in spirituality, culture, and lifestyle.

Despite that diversity, and a three-century span of making, one common theme runs throughout.

“The show resounds with the idea of survivance, a portmanteau of the words ‘survival’ and ‘resistance,’” Chelsea Pierce, McKinnon Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Chrysler Museum of Art, told Forbes.com. “This term was popularized by Anishinaabe writer and literary theorist Gerald Vizenor and encompasses notions of Indigenous sovereignty and the assertion of their continual presence in the postcolonial world. We see this in works that show legacy and lineage, the endurance of cultural traditions passed down over time. The very existence of such contemporary works disproves the 19th century sentiment that Indigenous cultures were on their way to extinction. Survivance asserts that indigeneity belongs in the 21st century.”

The future is indigenous. So is the present and the past.

The show brings together customary objects—beadwork garments, ceremonial masks, and stone carvings—in dialogue with contemporary Indigenous practices for visitors to discover the thriving traditions of First Nations groups from across Canada.

“Discovery” is a loaded word when describing Indigenous subjects, art or otherwise. European-descended people have been claiming “discovery” of land and ideas familiar to Indigenous people on the North American continent for more than 500 years. Indigenous artwork has been there the entire time, so perhaps “awaken to” or “appreciate” serve better than “discover.”

That goes for the museum as well as visitors.

The exhibition and accompanying catalogue are outcomes of the McMichael’s commitment to increase representation of Indigenous artists from Canada in its collection. That commitment is a relatively recent one, dating back only the past decade or so. The exhibition’s title, “Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection,” reflects the institution’s journey with Indigenous artwork more than the artwork itself.

As the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to Canadian art, the McMichael has been slow to this work and thankfully collaborated with Indigenous stakeholders—scholars, traditional knowledge keepers, and living artists–in developing the exhibition.

You Are On Native Land

What interest does a museum in Norfolk have with Indigenous Canadian art?

“The Chrysler is in its own early days of forging relationships with Indigenous stakeholders in our community and we are working to increase representation in our museum through various means,” Pierce said. “In a way, the McMichael is helping set an example for other institutions to follow, and bringing this collection to Norfolk demonstrates our commitment today and for projects to come.”

A commitment beyond words, one of deeds.

In 2024, the Chrysler presented Tlingit glass artist “Preston Singletary: Raven and the Box of Daylight.” Next year, “Clearly Indigenous,” a groundbreaking exhibition of contemporary Indigenous glass art from around Native America and the Pacific Rim visits the museum. The Chrysler has one of the largest glass collections in America.

Outside the museum’s entrance, a sculpture created by a team of four artists, all members of the Pamunkey Indian Tribe of Virginia, spells out “Tsenacommacah.” Tsenacommacah comes from the Indigenous name for the land on which the Chrysler Museum stands.

Museum goers at the Chrysler will find the Indigenous Canadian artwork on view in “Early Days” not dissimilar from much of the Native American artwork they may be more familiar with. For good reason.

“It would be a mistake to emphasize American or Canadian identity over indigeneity. The political border dividing our countries, called the ‘Medicine Line’ by many Indigenous people, did not exist for millennia and there are many tribes that exist on both sides of this border united by shared beliefs, customs, and language,” Pierce explains. “In terms of the artwork, examples of formline from the Northwest Coast could hardly be differentiated between a Tlingit community in Canada as opposed to a community in the United States. People probably recall beadwork and ceramics when thinking of traditional Native American art and there are some fantastic historical and contemporary examples of beadwork in the show.”

Political borders are arbitrary and have existed only in the blink of an eye when compared to the indigenous people and cultures they corral.

Canadian Indigenous Modern Artists

“Early Days” features such artists as Norval Morrisseau, Carl Beam and Alex Janvier, and includes leading contemporary Indigenous artists like Kent Monkman, Meryl McMaster, and Rebecca Belmore.

Morrisseau (1932–2007; Ojibway Bingwi Neyaashi Anishinaabek) has been posthumously making national headlines in Canada as, sadly, the artist victim to the largest art fraud in history. The scheme behind Morrisseau forgeries was the subject of a fascinating 2019 documentary titled “There are no Fakes.”

Monkman (b. 1965; Cree) a leading global contemporary artist, Indigenous or otherwise, had a major commission at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2019 and his work continues to be highly sought after by top art museums in Canada and America.

Two notables among many.

“These artworks are an invitation to consider different beliefs and worldviews through an incredible diversity of material and practice,” Pierce said. “Indigenous culture is not monolithic–the art really shows that. We hope that our visitors gain a little more understanding and empathy for the work, and by extension, the communities they encounter.”

Upon closing at the Chrysler, “Early Days” next travels to the Musée National des Beaux-arts du Québec.