EventsTies That Guide – A Conversation on Intergenerational Practices in Curation / plus a curator tour of Runs in the Family!
Teraanga Commons, Room 270 + 272
October 4, 2025
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Nico Williams, Emily Critch, Taqralik Partridge, and Lori Blondeau.
An intergenerational discussion on Indigenous curatorial methodologies
Join us for the final session of Carmen Robertson’s curatorial conversation series, exploring Indigenous curatorial methodologies through collaborative dialogue.
This session explores the intergenerational dimensions of curatorial practice, how knowledge and approaches are passed down, transformed by those who came before and carried forward through mentorship and community connections. Curators at various stages of their practices will reflect on the individuals, projects and curatorial voices that have shaped their own work.
After the panel, we will head over to CUAG (about a 3-minute walk) for a guided tour of Runs in the Family with curators Carmen Robertson and Hanako Hubbard-Radulovich.
This event is free and open to everyone. No registration is required. Light refreshments, including bannock and tea, will be provided.
This event is part of Stonecroft Semester: The Art of Transmission and is kindly supported by the Thinking Through the Museum Partnership Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Access: CUAG is a barrier-free space, on two levels. An elevator in the building lobby enables you to access both floors. There are automatic entrance doors on both levels. Service animals are welcome.
Construction: A big construction project at the north end of campus has changed the usual routes to CUAG. Check this site’s visiting page to find a map, directions for all modes of transit and a new wayfinding video for drivers.
Parking: Paid parking is available in lots P18 and P7D. Please see the visiting page for more info.
Participants
Lori Blondeau is an influential contemporary artist 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) and 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.
Emily Critch (they/them) is an award-winning Mi’kmaw + settler curator, art historian and artist from Elmastukwek, Ktaqmkuk (Bay of Islands, NL). Critch has created or co-created 15 curatorial projects since starting as an independent curator in 2018 and has been an arts worker in their home territory for over a decade. Critch is invested in art histories and material culture within Mi’kma’ki, curatorial practice, mentorship and print media.
Taqralik Patridge is an artist, writer, spoken word poet and curator from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. Her artwork has been showcased both nationally and internationally, with exhibitions at venues such as the MacKenzie Art Gallery (Radical Stitch), Carleton University Art Gallery (The Baroness Elsa Project), Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Among All These Tundras), and the Sydney Biennale in Australia. Partridge’s performance work has been featured on CBC Radio One and she has toured with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, she published a book of poetry titled curved against the hull of a peterhead. Some of Partridge’s writing has been translated into Swedish and French languages. Taqralik Partridge is the former director of the Nordic Lab at SAW gallery in Ottawa and adjunct curator at the Art Gallery of Guelph.
Nico Williams, ᐅᑌᒥᐣ is a member of Aamjiwnaang First Nation (Anishinaabe), currently living and working in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal. In 2021, he graduated with a Master of Fine Arts in Sculpture from Concordia University. He has a multidisciplinary, and often collaborative, practice that is centered around sculptural beadwork. Williams is active within the urban Indigenous Montreal Arts community and a member of the Contemporary Geometric Beadwork research team. His work has been shown internationally and across Canada, including at the Art Gallery of Hamilton (2023), the MacKenzie Art Gallery (2022), Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (2021), Musée des beaux-arts Montréal (2019), PHI Foundation for Contemporary Art (2023) and the recent group exhibition, Indian Theater: Native Performance, Art, and Self-Determination since 1969, at the Hessel Museum of Art. He was recently awarded the 2024 Sobey Art Award for his contributions to contemporary visual arts.
