Gatherings

The Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones’ (ICCA) Gatherings provide a dedicated space for Indigenous artists, curators, critics, and cultural leaders to unite, celebrate achievements, and strengthen connections within the Indigenous arts community. These gatherings honor the visionaries who established the ICCA, acknowledging their role in creating essential platforms for Indigenous voices within contemporary art. Each gathering includes a diverse lineup of programming, featuring panel discussions, performances, screenings, and community conversations. The events address key issues in Indigenous arts, such as cultural accountability, identity, and community-building, while fostering meaningful exchange among participants. Tailored to respect the culture and protocols of each host location, these gatherings highlight local talent, facilitate dialogue, and encourage collaboration. Supported by local and national partnerships, ICCA’s Gatherings play a crucial role in sustaining a space for Indigenous representation, knowledge-sharing, and expression in the arts.

2025 ARCA Gathering

Against the Current

À contre-courant

Wàbi mikanàwàn

Jiimaan zhaawendaabaning

Malinngittuq

Yoterihwaién’ke

Kontre li kouroon

The Artist-Run Centres and Collectives Conference (ARCA), along with the artist-run centres AXENÉO7 and SAW, in collaboration with the Indigenous Curatorial Collective, the Regroupement des centres d’artistes autogérés du Québec and the Association des groupes en arts visuels francophones, are excited to announce the ARCA biennial gathering Against the Current, taking place in Ottawa-Gatineau from June 11 to 14, 2025. Against the Current will be hosted at the NCC River House, the Ottawa Art Gallery’s Alma Duncan Salon, AXENÉO7 and SAW, connecting delegates to important cultural and natural sites on both sides of the Kichi Sibi (Ottawa River) while recognizing and honouring the Algonquin land on which we will gather. Over 250 delegates are expected to attend.

The conference will present a rich program of events and professional activities for delegates, the arts community and the general public alike, including keynotes, panels, discussions, workshops, collaborative sessions, advocacy campaigns, networking events, performances, art happenings and exhibition openings. A wide range of topics will be covered, providing opportunities to all cultural workers connected with the Canadian and international artist-run centre network. At the NCC River House, participants can enjoy hiking, canoeing and kayaking while participating in panels and discussions broadcast live.

The gathering will close with an art extravaganza aboard the Ottawa River Queen steamboat, featuring Indigenous performance art, music and fashion from across Turtle Island and beyond, presented by the Asinabka Media Art Festival, AXENÉO7, the Indigenous Curatorial Collective and SAW. Registrations will be accepted starting October 30, 2024.

https://www.againstthecurrent.art/

Reclaiming Truth: Indigenous Authenticity – The Path to Accountability

Presented By ICCA

Thursday, June 12: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Panel Moderated by

Liz Barron – Director of Operations, ICCA (Winnipeg)

Liz Barron has been self-employed in the arts for the last 25 years. She is dedicated to building strategies and programs that target, motivate, and engage Indigenous artists and organizations working in all cultural milieu. Her skills in arts management includes experience working with CARFAC, the Ottawa Symphony Orchestra, and numerous Indigenous led arts and culture not-for-profits. Liz is one of the original founders of Urban Shaman Gallery in Winnipeg, and she has served as a mentor with the Manitoba Music Indigenous Mentorship program. She was the project manager for one of the largest Indigenous contemporary exhibitions in Canada, Close Encounters: The Next 500 Years, led by four Indigenous curators which featured over 30 Indigenous contemporary artists. In 2021, she started the Barron Bursary at Digital Arts Resource Centre in Ottawa, to support an Indigenous moving image maker to study film at the University of Ottawa.

Panellists:

Justin Bear L’Arrivée, Artistic Director – Urban Shaman (Winnipeg)

Justin Bear L’Arrivee is of mixed Cree and Scottish ancestry from Peguis First Nation (maternal) and is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation (paternal). An arts administrator, facilitator, and community worker, Justin is passionate about revitalizing Indigenous ways of being through arts and culture. With a focus on program development, community projects, and youth mentorship, Justin’s work is guided by a deep commitment to empowering and uplifting Indigenous voices. Their practice is firmly rooted in community needs and is deeply informed by experience within the child-welfare and disability systems as well as the artist-run centre sector.

Lori Beavis – Executive Director, Centre d’art Daphne(Tiohtià:ke/ Mooniyang/ Montreal)

Of Michi Saagiig Anishinaabe and Irish/Welchdescen, Lori Beavis is Executive Director of Centre d’art daphne, the first Indigenous artist-run centre in Tiohtià:ke/ Mooniyang/ Montreal. Beavis is an independent curator, art educator and art historian. Identifying as being of Michi Sagiig (Mississauga Anishinaabe) and Irish-Welsh descent, she is a citizen of Hiawatha First Nation at Rice Lake, Ontario. Her curatorial work, art practice and research, articulates narrative and memory in the context of family and cultural history, and reflects on cultural identity, art education and self-representation. Her independent curatorial practice – solo (Shelley Niro: Buffet (2016); Rebellion of my Ancestors: Jobena Petonoquot (2018); Shelley Niro: women land river (2019); mazinigwaaso / to bead something Barry Ace: Bandolier Bags as Cultural Conduit (2019) and with co-curators (The Rebel Yells; Dress and Political Re-dress in Contemporary Indigenous Art Rhonda L. Meier (2015), Maria Ezcurra and Natasha Reid (Invisible: body as reflective site, 2019) has objectively worked to further conversations on art, identity and self-representation. She serves on the Executive of the Indigenous Curatorial Collective/ Collectif des Commissaires Autochtones (IC/CA) Board of Directors.

Lori Blondeau, Associate Professor, School of Art – University of Manitoba (Winnipeg)

Lori Blondeau is an influential contemporary arti of Cree, Saulteaux, and Métis from Saskatchewan, Canada, Treaty Four. Since the 1990s, she has established an interdisciplinary artistic practice encompassing performance, photography, and installation art. Alongside her creative endeavors, Blondeau played a vital role in the Indigenous art community as the co-founder and Executive Director of the Indigenous art collective TRIBE, significantly contributing to the prominence of Indigenous art and knowledge in Canada.

Her notable performances, including “We Want to be Like Barbie that Bitch has Everything” (1995), “Are You My Mother?” (2002), “States of Grace” (2007), “Plains Horizon” (2024), reflect her profound engagement with themes of identity and culture, while her photographic works such as “COSMOSQUAW” (1996), “Lorely Surfer Squaw” (1997), and “Asinîy Iskwew” (2016) exhibit a compelling blend of precision, humour, and strength.

Blondeau’s work has been showcased in numerous group and solo exhibitions, earning her recognition as a pivotal figure in contemporary art. In addition to her artistic practice, she has served as an Associate Professor at the University of Manitoba School of Art since 2018, where she mentors emerging artists. Her contributions to the field were acknowledged when she received the prestigious Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2021, highlighting her significant impact on the art landscape in Canada and beyond.

Governance of Compassion

Presented By G101

Friday, June 13: 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM

Panel Moderated by

Laura Margita – Director/Curator, Gallery 101

Laura Margita Abridged Curriculum Vitae Professional 2012 to present Director/Curator, Gallery 101 2005 – 2011 Executive Director, PAVED Arts 2004 Outreach Coordinator, Ottawa School of Art 1997 – 2003Adminstrator SAW Gallery 1989-2000 University of Ottawa, Sculpture Tech 1990 – 97 Administrator, Enriched Bread Artists, (EBA) Advocacy 2012-13 Treasurer, Artist Run Centres of Ontario (G101) 2006-11 Co-President, IMAA Region Prairies/NWT 2006-11 Treasurer, Independent Media Arts Alliance, (IMAA) 2005-07 President, Prairie Artist Run Centres (PARC) 2005-07 Secretary, Artist Run Centres and Collective Conference 2002-04 Artist Run Centres of Ontario (ARCCO) Performance 2011 La Central, Madame blanch Serves H’ourse douvres from the Underworld 2011 FADO, Madame blanch Serves H’ourse douvres from the Underworld 2007 South Asian Visual Arts Collective, Swing 2007 AKA Gallery, Swing

Panellists:

Liz Barron – Director of Operations, ICCA (Winnipeg)

TBD – Debsar/Pique

TBD

2025 ICCA Gathering

The Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA) will host our 2025 National Gathering in Saskatchewan, which we will be hosting in both Regina & Saskatoon in November 2025. This convening will coincide with projects that our colleagues at the MacKenzie Art Gallery and Remai Gallery have been undertaking, which aim to bring together Black & Indigenous artists and curators to discuss relationships, histories and practices across the Great Plains region.

Save the Dates: November 12-16, 2025

Past Gatherings/Anciens rassemblements

2024 (October 2024) Expanding Kinshps: A Gathering on International Connection
2022 – Hybrid (November 2022) Framing Responsibility: A Gathering on Accountability
2021 – Digital (November 2021) Solidarity Across Space
2020 – Digital Beyond Space: A Gathering on Care in Strange Times
2019 – Vancouver Great Ocean Dialogues, in partnership with the Vancouver Art Gallery and SFU Galleries
2018 – Halifax Pjilita’q Mi’kmata: L’nuite’tmuki tan wejkuwaql naqwe’kl International Gathering
2016 – Whitehorse Kwản Mày Daye Daatthi (“Sit by the fire with us” / Ensemble autour du feu), in partnership with Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre and Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance
2014 – Montreal lakweiahre (“we remember”), in partnership with Concordia University
2011 – Toronto Revisioning the Indians of Canada Pavilion: Ahzekewada (“Let us look back”), in partnership with OCAD University
2009 – Ottawa Curators Camp Kabeshinan, in conjunction with the National Gallery of Canada
2008 – Vancouver Shaq’sthut – Gathering Place, in conjunction with UBC
2007 – Saskatoon Corralling Art: Aboriginal Curatorial Practice in the Prairies and Beyond, in conjunction with Tribe
2006 – Winnipeg The Way Ahead: Surveying the Curatorial Landscape, in conjunction with Urban Shaman
2005 – Ottawa Founding Roundtable Discussion

2024 Toronto ICCA Gathering/Rassemblement ICCA de Toronto 2024

Expanding Kinshps: A Gathering on International Connection

2022 ICCA Gathering/Rassemblement ICCA 2022

Framing Responsibility: A Gathering on Accountability

The Indigenous Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA) is delighted to present its 2022 Gathering Framing Responsibility: A Gathering on Accountability. For the last several years ICCA’s gathering has moved online because of the COVID-19 pandemic and we are thrilled that this year it will be a hybrid gathering with several in-person events. From October 7th-October 30th, a series of events (panels, workshops, and special activities) will be presented around the theme of our 2022 program, Accountability.

Rooted in the theme of care and accessibility that we began exploring in 2020, this gathering will give space to BIPOC art professionals, curators, artists, and educators (prioritizing those who intersect with having a disability/ies), to reflect, share, and center their work on knowledge and actions of taking/ encouraging accountability through various ways.

WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
To us at the ICCA, Accountability has many diverse meanings. It goes beyond words, and is more tangible in action. Our gathering this year will covers a variety of topics to engage these ideas, including disability justice in the arts sector, ways in which institutions can responsibly provide accessible and healing spaces for disabled, Deaf, Mad, Indigenous, Black communities and those who intersect alike, restorative justice in the Indigenous art world, and much more. We are looking forward to the unique perspective you will bring to the table!

The 2022 Gathering schedule will be announced shortly on our website, and on our social media pages (Instagram and Facebook). Registration will open in August. Stay tuned for information on how to register!

Interested to become an ICCA community member and receive our gathering newsletters and invitations? Sign up here!

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