One of Canada’s largest art shows putting focus on Indigenous artists

TORONTO —
One of the country’s largest art shows is taking place at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and this year’s edition places a special focus on Indigenous art.

Sixty-five exhibits of contemporary art, 10 per cent of which are exclusively Indigenous, are being showcased at Art Toronto this weekend.

Maria Hupfield, an Anishinaabe artist who teaches her craft at the University of Toronto, has a pair of moving installations in the show.

“I think of it as kind of an approach toward art that’s more de-colonial and less segmented in this colonial way where it has to be a painting on the wall,” she told CTV National News.

“I’m very material-based, so typically I work with industrial felt and I mash things up and create sculptures that I then wear in live performances.”

Works by Jason Baerg, a Cree Metis artist who teaches at OCAD University, are also being featured.

“I think my job as an artist is to speak to things that are important and relevant,” he told CTV National News.

The show’s focus this year on Indigenous art is one Baerg welcomes.

“I’m so happy to see more Indigenous art being represented at this level,” he said.

Mia Nielsen, director of Art Toronto, says embracing diversity is what the show is about.

“The Indigenous experience is so important to the Canadian identity, to the Canadian fabric, and this is Canada’s art fair,” she told CTV National News.

In-person viewings of the works at Art Toronto are available until Sunday, while online showings run until Thursday.