Indigenous Initiatives
Hannah Claus (born in 1969), invaders, 2019, wool, silver‑plated copper, 215.5 x 156.5 cm (each element). MMFA, purchase, the Museum Campaign 1998‑2002 Fund. Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
In addition to affirming cosmopolitan Indigenous presence and honouring cultural protocols, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and Bourgie Hall are committed to becoming places that prioritize reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, and that highlight Indigenous aesthetic, musical and ceremonial practices. We seek to contribute to a deeper understanding of and between Montreal’s communities through programming where visual arts, music, performance and cinema are shown, in addition to cultural gatherings and mediation activities.
Territorial Recognition
Shé:kon1 | Hello!
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is situated in the territory of the Great Peace of 1701, a territory imbued with histories of relation, exchange and ceremony that have taken place at the centre of the island-metropolis known widely as Montreal. Tiohtià:ke in Kanien’kéha, Mooniyaang in Anishinaabemowin, Molian in Aln8ba8dwaw8gan, and Te ockiai in Wendat are various toponyms that attest to this. With the communities of Kahnawà:ke and Kanehsatà:ke, Tiohtià:ke encompasses the eastern expanse of Kanien’kehá:ka Nation territory, People of the Flint and Keepers of the Eastern Door within the Rotinonshión:ni/Haudenosaunee Confederacy.
Founded by a diverse group of individuals of European background with a passion for visual and musical culture from all eras, the MMFA and Bourgie Hall are gathering places that connect us to diverse memories and creations from all cultures. We recognize and honour the Indigenous aesthetic, political and ceremonial practices that have been imbued in the Montreal territory over millennia.
A collection that reflects the diversity of Indigenous Arts
The Museum is the custodian of an Indigenous arts collection that reflects and prioritizes the material, conceptual and cultural diversity of Indigenous artists of the Woodlands, the Circumpolar regions, as well as other shores and lands farther south. Located at the crossroads of Kanien’kehá:ka Nation communities, the Museum conveys multiple narratives of surrounding Indigenous peoples, including in particular the Anishinaabeg, W8banakiak and Wendat.
The works entrusted to the MMFA bear witness to the affirmation of belonging, gender, sexuality and kinship; performance, orality and the joy of living; the protection of lands and waters; the relationality between peoples and species; and the healing of traumas stemming from colonialism.
Nadia Myre (born in 1974), Indian Act, 2000‑2002, glass beads, copy of page 41 of the Indian Act, adhesive tape, thread, felt, 42.2 x 34.7 x 1.7 cm. MMFA, gift of Stéphane Cauchies. © Nadia Myre / CARCC Ottawa 2023. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Shuvinai Ashoona (born in 1961), Composition (Holding Drawings and Listening to Music), 2020, coloured pencil and felt pen over traces of graphite, 76.4 x 58.5 cm (approx.). MMFA, purchase, the Museum Campaign 1998‑2002 Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Daphne Odjig (1919-2016), Hoop Dancer, 1974, silkscreen, 26/50, 101.6 x 78.7 cm. MMFA, purchase, Saidye and Samuel Bronfman Collection of Canadian Art. Photo MMFA
Padloo Samayualie (born in 1977), Composition (Bent Connection), 2018, coloured pencil, felt pen, 57 x 38.3 cm (approx.). MMFA, purchase, Deirdre M. Stevenson Fund. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Wendy Red Star (born in 1981), Spring, from the series "Four Seasons", 2006, inkjet print, 14/15, 90.1 x101.6 cm. MMFA, purchase, Horsley and Annie Townsend Bequest, gifts of Marcel Elefant, Lillian and Billy Mauer, W. Bruce C. Bailey. Photo MMFA
Caroline Monnet (born in 1985), It Cracks with Light, 2021, steel, polystyrene, gypsum, pressed wood, medium density fibreboard, insulating sheathing, aluminum foil vapour barrier, 245.4 x 224.3 x 337 cm. MMFA, gift of the artist. Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
Meryl McMaster (born in 1988), Consanguinity, from the series “In Between Worlds”, 2010, chromogenic print, artist's proof ½, 61 x 61 cm. MMFA, purchase, Michel Phaneuf Fund. Photo MMFA
Annie Pootoogook (1969-2016), Woman Making Tea, 2005-2006, felt pen, wax crayon, graphite, 56.5 x 66 cm. MMFA, purchase, Louise Lalonde Lamarre Memorial Fund. Photo MMFA, Christine Guest
Significant exhibitions
The program of group and solo presentations organized by the MMFA team, sometimes in collaboration with partner organizations, attests to the plurality of aesthetic traditions and novel approaches in Indigenous arts. The Museum is proud to highlight the International Decade for Indigenous Languages,2 the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the calls to action of numerous national commissions of inquiry. Its current and recent exhibitions are expressions of this commitment to artists from First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across the country, as well as from Indigenous communities elsewhere in the world.
View of the exhibition Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob. © Dempsey Bob. Photo MMFA, Denis Farley
• Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia (2023)
• Wolves: The Art of Dempsey Bob (2023)
• ᑐᓴᕐᓂᑐᑦ TUSARNITUT! Music Born of the Cold (2022-2023)
• Caroline Monnet: Ninga Mìnèh (2021)
• Alanis Obomsawin, Printmaker. An Artist and Her Nation: The Waban-Aki Weavers of Odanak (2019)
• Nadia Myre: Scattered Remains – Tout ce qui reste (2017-2018)
• Kushapetshekan / Kosapitcikan – A Glimpse into the Other World (2017-2018)
• Meryl McMaster: In-Between Worlds (2017)
• Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon (2013)
• Kent Monkman: Dance to the Berdashe (2009)
View of the exhibition Portable Universe: Thought and Splendour of Indigenous Colombia. Photo MMFA, Jean-François Brière
Bourgie Hall: living Indigenous traditions
A place for discovery, exchange and sharing, Bourgie Hall aims to celebrate First Peoples’ rich musical traditions. It celebrates remarkably talented musicians, composers and artists representing various First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities through concerts, commissioned works, lectures, listening circles and youth performances. Through Bourgie Hall’s commitment to showcasing traditions that are sometimes thousands of years old, audiences are able to marvel at the diversity and artistic richness of these creative minds. Among the Indigenous artists we have welcomed or whose works have been heard at Bourgie Hall are soprano Elisabeth St-Gelais; throat singers Lydia Etok, Nina Segalowitz and Sarah Siaza Carriere; poets and writers Maya Cousineau Mollen, Nicole O’Bomsawin and Joséphine Bacon; and composers Barbara Assiginaak and Eliot Britton.
Arts and education partnerships:
- Individualized internships for emerging Indigenous arts professionals
- Access for Indigenous community groups through the program Sharing the Museum
1 Hello in Kanien’kéha.
2 The United Nations declared 2022-2032 to be the International Decade for Indigenous Languages.
