Tea Time with Aunties & Uncles

About Us

2026 Curatorial Cohort
(Must be an ICCA member to join)

Tea Time

Tea Time w Aunties (& Uncles)

Real-life strategy to reach your goals.

The Tea Time Knowledge Briefs Series is a citable professional infrastructure initiative developed by the Indigenous Curatorial Collective (ICCA). Built upon the foundation of the Art Doula Program (conceptually rooted in the Cultivating Kin project, Primary Colours) & Art Aunty Program, as well as the Anti-Colonial Social Club frameworks, this series distills the “spilled truths,” sector insights, and relational wisdom generated during the Tea Time w Aunties (& Uncles) virtual circles.

Operating across 6 monthly Tea Time Sessions (July–December 2026), the series transforms radical sanctuary conversations into formal, searchable resources. The series is curated and archived by Programs Manager Justine “Tini” Stilborn under the leadership of Project Lead Liz Barron, Director of the ICCA. It brings together subject matter expertise from invited Art Aunties, Uncles, and IBPOC curatorial cohort members to address the legal, ethical, and operational “grey zones” of contemporary curatorial practice.

Structure, Topics, and Registration

We strive for diversity across the globe

Register For Tea Time Sessions

The series is anchored by leading Indigenous curators, artists, and cultural leaders who guide each session through relational facilitation:

Jennifer Smith — Director of NIMAC (National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition); independent curator and media arts advocate.

Tiffany Shaw — Interdisciplinary artist, curator, and licensed architect specializing in collaborative engagement, spatial safety, and cultural design

Linda Grussani — Independent curator, art historian, and former Curator of Indigenous Art at the Canadian Museum of History and the National Gallery of Canada.

Monique Manatch — Founder and Executive Director of ICMI (Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations); Knowledge Keeper, researcher, and advocate for Indigenous cultural protocols and technology.

Greg A. Hill — Senior independent curator, artist, and former Inaugural Audain Senior Curator of Indigenous Art at the National Gallery of Canada.

Objectives

Real-life strategy to reach your goals.

  • Document Knowledge Sovereignty: Transform community-led dialogue on Indigenous data sovereignty, AI ethics, language reclamation, and institutional navigation into citable, professional infrastructure.

  • Provide Technical & Emotional Shielding: Bridge care-centered “walking beside” methodologies with technical toolkits (including contracts, consent clauses, and AI safety protocols) to protect IBPOC arts workers.

  • Inform Sector Policy & Practice: Supply accessible, plain-language guidance to artists, independent curators, and arts organizations to dismantle hierarchical models and advance institutional co-governance.

Meet our Art Aunties & Uncles

Facilitators & Sector Leadership

Jennifer Smith
(Director, NIMAC)

Session #1: July 15, 2026
Theme: The Next Horizon: Cultivating Dialogue and Empowering Emerging Indigenous Curators

Jennifer Lee Smith is a Red River Métis curator, writer, and arts administrator from Treaty 1 Territory/Winnipeg. Jennifer’s interests have always been the use of our hands to tell stories, most often looking to material culture and craft. Her work as an arts administrator is in the Media Art sector, immersing her in the lens of creation through technology. Her family modeled to her at a young age that working within and for community is essential for the continuance of cultural knowledge transfer.
Jennifer works as the Executive Director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC). She has been published in BlackFlash and Herizons, along with responses to exhibitions for artist-run-centres. Her most recent exhibition is nanâtohkokwâsowak /They sew patchwork blankets/ Bidakiigiwewog/ They put needles into fabric at AKA in Saskatoon, and has curated shows for Urban Shaman, Gallery 1C03, Video Pool Media Arts Centre, aceartinc., amongst others.

Tiffany Shaw
(Architect & Interdisciplinary Artist)

Session #2: August 19, 2026
Theme: Relational Constellations: Co-Designing Spaces of Safety, Care, and Collaborative Practices

Tiffany Shaw is a Métis architect, artist and curator based in Alberta. She holds a BFA from Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) University, a Masters in Architecture from the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc) and is currently working at Reimagine Architects and recently started an Indigenous owned consulting company, named Reimagine Gathering. Shaw has exhibited widely including the Architecture Venice Biennale, Winnipeg Art Gallery, Pier 21, Agnes Etherington Art Centre and the Chicago Architecture Biennial. She has been the recipient of multiple public art commissions such as Edmonton’s Indigenous Art Park and Winnipeg’s Markham Bus Station.
Oscillating between digital and analogue methodologies Shaw’s work gathers notions of craft, memory and atmosphere. Her practice is often guided by communal interventions as a way to engage a lifted understanding of place. While born in Calgary and raised in Edmonton, Shaw’s Métis lineage derives from Fort McMurray via Fort McKay/Fort Chipewyan and the Red River.

Linda Grussani
(Curator & Art Historian)

Session #3: September 16, 2026
Theme: Relational Accountability vs. Institutional Demand: Walking Beside Without Being Consumed

Linda Grussani (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg/Italian ancestry) is a curator, art historian, and arts administrator based in the Ottawa area. For more than two decades, she has advanced Indigenous arts and culture through curatorial practice, institutional leadership, and advocacy for structural change. Her career has included roles at the Canadian Museum of History, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada, and the National Gallery of Canada. She is currently a doctoral candidate at Queen’s University, where her research examines Indigenous and institutional relationships in museums and galleries in Anishinàbe Akì. Grussani also serves on several boards and advisory committees, including Carleton University, the Inuit Art Foundation, and the Agnes Etherington Art Gallery. As an independent curator, she has recently worked on Mawadishiwewin (Visits) and Kingunilialuk – greatly missed, your absence creates a presence. Grounded in respect, curiosity, and collaboration, her work reflects a commitment to Indigenous cultural vitality, thoughtful leadership, and meaningful community engagement.

Jennifer Smith
(Director, NIMAC)

Session #1: July 15, 2026
Theme: The Next Horizon: Cultivating Dialogue and Empowering Emerging Indigenous Curators

Jennifer Lee Smith is a Red River Métis curator, writer, and arts administrator from Treaty 1 Territory/Winnipeg. Jennifer’s interests have always been the use of our hands to tell stories, most often looking to material culture and craft. Her work as an arts administrator is in the Media Art sector, immersing her in the lens of creation through technology. Her family modeled to her at a young age that working within and for community is essential for the continuance of cultural knowledge transfer.
Jennifer works as the Executive Director of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC). She has been published in BlackFlash and Herizons, along with responses to exhibitions for artist-run-centres. Her most recent exhibition is nanâtohkokwâsowak /They sew patchwork blankets/ Bidakiigiwewog/ They put needles into fabric at AKA in Saskatoon, and has curated shows for Urban Shaman, Gallery 1C03, Video Pool Media Arts Centre, aceartinc., amongst others.

Monique Manatch
(Executive Director, ICMI)

Session #4: October 21, 2026
Theme: Protocol Is Practice: Navigating Indigenous Cultural Protocols Within Institutional Spaces

Monique Manatch is a member of the Algonquins of Barriere Lake and a Knowledge Carrier. Monique is a PhD Anthropology student at Carleton University focusing on the impact, use and creation of digital arts in the Indigenous community. Monique is founder and Executive Director of Indigenous Culture and Media Innovations (www.icmi.ca).

Greg A. Hill
(Senior Curator & Artist)

Session #5: November 18, 2026
Theme: Distilling Decades: Systemic Wisdom and Pitfall Prevention in Institutional Curation

Greg A. Hill is an artist and curator currently based on unceded Algonquin Anishinaabe territory in Chelsea, Quebec. From southern Ontario, he is a Kanyen’kehaka member of the Six Nations of the Grand River. As a curator, Hill worked in museums and art galleries for nearly 30 years, notably, as the National Gallery of Canada’s only Senior Curator of Indigenous Art (2000-22). There, he and his team built a leading collection of artworks by some of the world’s most significant contemporary Indigenous artists, a permanent legacy for future generations to study and be inspired by. He also established an ongoing series of contemporary international Indigenous art exhibitions, beginning with Sakahán in 2013 and Àbadakone / Continuous Fire / Fue continuel 2019-20, as well as curating and co-curating internationally touring retrospective exhibitions for senior Indigenous artists—Norval Morrisseau 2006-7, Carl Beam 2010-12, Alex Janvier 2016-17, and Shelley Niro 2023-25, all with publications, ensuring a lasting contribution to the field of Indigenous art.

Join our Tea Time

Become a Member of ICCA

We generate results for our customers

Community Memberships or Institutional Membership