ALT TEXT: OCADFA is disappointed to learn of Wanda Nanibush’s departure as the Art Gallery of Ontario’s first curator of Indigenous art. This news follows a recent statement from the new Director at the National Gallery of Canada that he is not interested in decolonization, a year after Greg Hill, the senior curator of Indigenous Art, was laid off (along with several others). We fear these moves represent a trend towards institutional backsliding in the arts community when it comes to representation, diversity and inclusion – specifically in regards to decolonization and Indigenization of public art institutions. These events should be treated as red flags for the arts community, and all those who believe art and design can help lead us to a more just society. We support the call from the international Indigenous Arts
community (see link below), and similarly encourage Faculty Associations across the country to review and revise their inner workings and cultures of their Associations, and academic institutions, to genuinely support and commit to practiced policies of decolonization and Indigenization.