Check out this new billboard by Joi T. Arcand and Dani Printup at 905 Somerset Street West during the month of October!
CUAG invites you to visit Anishinàbe Aki, a new billboard by Joi T. Arcand and Dani Printup. It is located at 905 Somerset Street West, across from the Plant Bath Recreation Centre, and is presented in conjunction with the CUAG exhibition Joi T. Arcand: ᑳᐃᓯᓈᑿᐦᑭ ᐃᑘᐏᓇ kā-isinākwahki itwēwina: The Shape of Words.
The billboard extends Arcand’s exhibition beyond the gallery walls, expanding her practice of asserting Indigenous presence in urban environments. In collaboration with Dani Printup, an Ottawa-based Hodinöhsö:ni’ (Onondaga) / Anishinaabe (Algonquin) curator and artist, Anishinàbe Aki (Anishinaabemowin for Anishinàbe land) brings this practice into a relationally grounded partnership. Arcand, a nēhiyaw (Plains Cree) artist from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation, Saskatchewan, has made Ottawa her home for the past decade. The billboard serves as a steadfast recognition that Ottawa is located on the traditional, unceded territory of the Algonquin Nation. Arcand and Printup have also created a companion artwork for the exterior of nearby Central Art Garage, the gallery at 66 B Lebreton Street that represents Arcand and her work.
If Anishinàbe Aki’s bold and colourful composition, set against a warm blue sky, feels nostalgic, it’s because Arcand and Printup have cleverly and playfully referenced a landmark icon from the local landscape: the Ottawa Civic Pharmacy sign. Located at Carling and Holland Avenue, the 1960 sign was the first of its kind in Canada, designed as an illuminated advertisement with independently rotating letters that attracted shoppers with a futuristic look. Well-loved by community members, the sign was saved and restored in 2017 when a Credit Union replaced the Civic Pharmacy.
Arcand has been exploring the role of signage as part of her art practice for almost two decades. Her collaboration with Printup taps into local appreciation for this Ottawa sign and spotlights a message that is impossible to ignore. Anishinàbe Aki demonstrates the power of Indigenous languages to shape the worlds we navigate. Linking place, signage, and language, Anishinàbe Aki reminds us that where and how we move through these worlds matters as much as the words we use to give them form and meaning.
Arcand has created related merch: a sticker and a limited-edition pin, ASKIY, which means land in nēhiyawēwin. Both are available for sale at CUAG.
Curated by
Heather Anderson with Cara Tierney
Artists in the exhibition
Joi T. Arcand, Dani Printup