Aux confluents de l’Akiawenhrahk
Ywahentetha’
Ahkwayaonhkeh, VU, and Medusa's
Glass Bay Exhibition, Nionwentsïo
May 2 to June 15, 2025
Artists
Rebecca Belmore
Dayna Danger
France Gros-Louis Morin
Shelley Niro
Sylvie Paré
Katherine Takpannie
Tania Willard
Co-curators
Greg A. Hill
Julia Caron Guillemette
After a year devoted to the Alliance and organizing workshops, discussions, screenings and exchange days that placed us in a position of exchange rather than creation, we wanted to create a new project focused on the arts. By combining the missions of Ahkwayaonhkeh and VU, we came up with the idea of a collective exhibition on Indigenous photography.
Given the heavy baggage that accompanies photography in Indigenous history, the idea of a co-curatorship, situated in an alliance between a Wendat centre and another non-Indigenous centre, was intended to foster a dialogue between equals. To match the spirit of the alliance, we entrusted this exhibition to an Indigenous curator, invited by Ahkwayaonhkeh, in collaboration with a non-Indigenous curator, invited by VU: Greg A. Hill and Julia Caron Guillemette.
Together, the two curators then developed what became Ywahentetha':
“Ywahentetha’. We put you before others in our spirits.”
As curators, we believe our role is to bring artists and their works into dialogue with each other in such a way as to amplify their power, the love that resides in and emanates from them. When we were imagining this exhibition, we started by selecting artists: Rebecca Belmore, Dayna Danger, France Gros-Louis Morin, Shelley Niro, Sylvie Paré, Katherine Takpannie, and Tania Willard. We knew we wanted to work with them because we hold them in high esteem – we love them for what they do. Then, as we were discussing and developing the direction of the exhibition, we decided to root it directly in this idea of love and honour. Based on this desire to hold high these artists that are dear in our hearts and minds, we favoured a curatorial gesture instead of a theme.
In this way, love has come to be at the centre of this project, both through the relationships it has nurtured and the works it brings to light. We’ve explored this love through family, through intergenerational and sometimes imagined relationships, as well as through our relationship with the land. We also acknowledge that, around those relations, there can be grief and pain. Those emotions can be attended to with love and care. With this exhibition, we want to invite you to experience the emotional potency of these works, the power so gently and thoughtfully shared with us by the artists. When you are there with us, viewing, we are all participants, generating the Ywahentetha’ that is so urgent to share.” – Greg A. Hill and Julia Caron Guillemette
During the initial meetings about the project, Greg raised the importance of documenting projects such as this one, given that the history of Indigenous art is still being written and that there is a glaring gap to be filled in this area. As part of the exhibition, a booklet containing the co-curators' text, photos of the works, and biographies of the artists and curators was printed in VU's production workshops. This booklet is also available here, in French and English.
This exhibition was made possible thanks to the Cultural Development Agreement between the Government of Quebec and the City of Quebec.