The University of Manitoba is decolonizing its art collection, replacing problematic paintings and sculptures with contemporary Indigenous art.
“The university is ultimately a colonial institution that is designed to serve white people … and that needs to change,” said C.W. Brooks-Ip, registrar and preparator of the University of Manitoba Art Collection.
“We have had artwork that is by a white settler that depicts Indigenous folks in not really an accurate way, in sort of the mythologized way, that in some ways glorifies the white settlers — or at least reinforces their white supremacy.”
So Brooks-Ip created the Indigenous Student Led Indigenous Art Purchase Program, a two-year pilot project that aims to change that. The group of Indigenous students meets with artists and curators, visits studios and recommends artwork to purchase.
The move comes amid a larger debate about what to do with art that reflects a colonial and imperialist history.
Student members of the University of Manitoba’s Indigenous Student Led Indigenous Art Purchase Program. (Submitted by C.W. Brooks-Ip)
A reminder of home and community
The committee has received $30,000 from the school’s Office of the Vice-President (Indigenous). It’s submitted 24 proposals for paintings, prints, physical pieces and an etching, by artists including Jackie Traverse, Christi Belcourt and Kent Monkman. The group hopes to acquire them over the summer, and show them as part of an exhibition at the School of Art Gallery in October before installing them throughout the campus.
Third-year student Jory Thomas, 20, says she jumped at the opportunity to get involved as the project’s committee co-ordinator.
She remembers how overwhelmed she felt starting her architecture degree at the university. At the time, she said, there wasn’t a lot of Indigenous art on campus.
“Seeing pieces like that reminds me of home. It reminds me of community and it creates that sense of familiarity that gets you comfortable with being here … and ready to learn,” said Thomas, who is Red River Métis.
“The university is sending a message to students [that] you are welcome here.”
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Removed paintings
One painting removed from the university president’s office is a work by Lionel Stephenson, an artist living in Winnipeg between 1885 and 1892.
The painting shows Upper Fort Garry on one side of the river, with an Indigenous person sitting outside a teepee on the other shore.
One example of art being removed is this painting by Lionel Stephenson, which used to hang in the university president’s office. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)
“It’s kind of depicting a ‘We’re over here and they’re over there’ type situation,” Thomas said. “It’s not showing community and togetherness. It’s showing the separation between the river and the settlement.”
It shows “the threat of direct colonization,” Brooks-Ip said.
Another is a sculpture of a buffalo hunt by Thomas Holland, an American artist and polo player. It portrays an Indigenous hunter riding a horse and spearing a buffalo.
This sculpture of a buffalo hunt by American artist Thomas Holland is one of the pieces that has been removed from public areas of the University of Manitoba, and relegated to the university collection art vault. (Karen Pauls/CBC)
While the depiction may be historically accurate, it wasn’t created from an Indigenous perspective of cultural understanding, respect and gratitude for the animal’s sacrifice, said Thomas, whose clan animal is the buffalo.
Images like this perpetuate harmful stereotypes of angry, violent Indigenous people, fostering a hostile environment on campus, she said.
“Instead of this violent attacking of the bison, there might be a better option of a sculpture, where they’re preparing the bison that they’ve hunted, because we historically used all the parts of the bison,” she said.
A new piece
One of the new pieces is by Frederick Lyle Spence, also known as Thunder Bear, an Ojibway carver from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba. It’s a soapstone carving of a black silhouette of a goose, with a dream catcher in its body, called “Let your dreams fly, for they will bring you home.”
Spence carved it in March, and he said it’s been waiting for the right home ever since.
One of the contemporary Indigenous pieces being acquired is this soapstone sculpture by Frederick Lyle Spence, an Ojibway carver from Peguis First Nation in Manitoba. The black silhouette of a goose with a dream catcher in its body is called ‘Let your dreams fly, for they will bring you home.’ (Trevor Brine/CBC)
“If I’m not ready to let it go it, one of the things I’ve been told is that it’s meant to stay and absorb your love and your positive energy,” Spence said.
“And when it’s ready, it’ll go to its new home and then it’ll sit and give off that energy to whoever is around it.”
He said he felt humbled and honoured when the university asked to buy it, especially when he reflected on his own experience as a student at the University of Winnipeg, which he said made him feel ashamed of his identity and his “Peguis” accent.
“I didn’t feel welcomed. I didn’t end up having a huge community or connection with the university, which is sad.”
What to do with colonial art?
For years, art institutions have deliberated on what to do with works that reflect a colonial history — should they be relegated to vaults or reframed with an Indigenous perspective and context as an educational opportunity?
There’s room for both approaches, said Riva Symko, head of collections and exhibitions at Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, home to the world’s largest public collection of contemporary Inuit art.
“We do need to put things away to make space for other voices to be heard and seen. Sometimes we need to put things away because they’re traumatic, because they are harmful … especially to our Indigenous visitors and audiences,” she said. “And we don’t want to instil more trauma on our communities.”
However, she said, artworks can occasionally be reframed or retold from a different point of view, giving a new understanding of them.
Riva Symko, head of collections and exhibitions at Winnipeg Art Gallery-Qaumajuq, says she understands the desire to destroy or hide depictions of colonial history because of the hurt and trauma it has caused — but while that may be appropriate in some cases, she believes using it to discuss and educate is also appropriate. (Karen Pauls/CBC)
In 2023, the Manitoba government said it would conduct a review to ensure all Indigenous-themed artwork displayed in ministers’ offices is created by Indigenous artists.
A provincial spokesperson said that review is now complete, and that all but one piece was confirmed to have been made by Indigenous artists. The remaining piece’s artist is unknown, and has been taken down until it can be identified.
Society is going through a paradigm shift, changing how we view our history and looking for new ways of dealing with our colonial past, Symko said. Art can spur conversation and dialogue, she said.
“The future will tell whether we burn them down, or whether we store them away and lock them in the vault, or whether we bring them out and use them for discussion.”
While Indigenous art is the focus right now, U Manitoba is currently auditing its entire collection and “keeping an eye out for things that might be problematic.”
If this pilot project can be extended or expanded, Brooks-Ip would also be interested in looking for art reflecting other racialized and queer communities.
How one university is dealing with art reflecting our colonial history
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The University of Manitoba is decolonizing its art collection, replacing problematic paintings and sculptures with contemporary Indigenous art.
LONDON (AP) — With a few daubs of a paintbrush, the Brontë sisters have got their dots back.
More than eight decades after it was installed, a memorial to the three 19th-century sibling novelists in London’s Westminster Abbey was amended Thursday to restore the diaereses – the two dots over the e in their surname.
The dots — which indicate that the name is pronounced “brontay” rather than “bront” — were omitted when the stone tablet commemorating Charlotte, Emily and Anne was erected in the abbey’s Poets’ Corner in October 1939, just after the outbreak of World War II.
They were restored after Brontë historian Sharon Wright, editor of the Brontë Society Gazette, raised the issue with Dean of Westminster David Hoyle. The abbey asked its stonemason to tap in the dots and its conservator to paint them.
“There’s no paper record for anyone complaining about this or mentioning this, so I just wanted to put it right, really,” Wright said. “These three Yorkshire women deserve their place here, but they also deserve to have their name spelled correctly.”
It’s believed the writers’ Irish father Patrick changed the spelling of his surname from Brunty or Prunty when he went to university in England.
Raised on the wild Yorkshire moors, all three sisters died before they were 40, leaving enduring novels including Charlotte’s “Jane Eyre,” Emily’s “Wuthering Heights” and Anne’s “The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.”
Rebecca Yorke, director of the Brontë Society, welcomed the restoration.
“As the Brontës and their work are loved and respected all over the world, it’s entirely appropriate that their name is spelled correctly on their memorial,” she said.
In a case that has sent shockwaves through the Vancouver Island art community, a local art dealer has been charged with one count of fraud over $5,000. Calvin Lucyshyn, the former operator of the now-closed Winchester Galleries in Oak Bay, faces the charge after police seized hundreds of artworks, valued in the tens of millions of dollars, from various storage sites in the Greater Victoria area.
Alleged Fraud Scheme
Police allege that Lucyshyn had been taking valuable art from members of the public under the guise of appraising or consigning the pieces for sale, only to cut off all communication with the owners. This investigation began in April 2022, when police received a complaint from an individual who had provided four paintings to Lucyshyn, including three works by renowned British Columbia artist Emily Carr, and had not received any updates on their sale.
Further investigation by the Saanich Police Department revealed that this was not an isolated incident. Detectives found other alleged victims who had similar experiences with Winchester Galleries, leading police to execute search warrants at three separate storage locations across Greater Victoria.
Massive Seizure of Artworks
In what has become one of the largest art fraud investigations in recent Canadian history, authorities seized approximately 1,100 pieces of art, including more than 600 pieces from a storage site in Saanich, over 300 in Langford, and more than 100 in Oak Bay. Some of the more valuable pieces, according to police, were estimated to be worth $85,000 each.
Lucyshyn was arrested on April 21, 2022, but was later released from custody. In May 2024, a fraud charge was formally laid against him.
Artwork Returned, but Some Remain Unclaimed
In a statement released on Monday, the Saanich Police Department confirmed that 1,050 of the seized artworks have been returned to their rightful owners. However, several pieces remain unclaimed, and police continue their efforts to track down the owners of these works.
Court Proceedings Ongoing
The criminal charge against Lucyshyn has not yet been tested in court, and he has publicly stated his intention to defend himself against any pending allegations. His next court appearance is scheduled for September 10, 2024.
Impact on the Local Art Community
The news of Lucyshyn’s alleged fraud has deeply affected Vancouver Island’s art community, particularly collectors, galleries, and artists who may have been impacted by the gallery’s operations. With high-value pieces from artists like Emily Carr involved, the case underscores the vulnerabilities that can exist in art transactions.
For many art collectors, the investigation has raised concerns about the potential for fraud in the art world, particularly when it comes to dealing with private galleries and dealers. The seizure of such a vast collection of artworks has also led to questions about the management and oversight of valuable art pieces, as well as the importance of transparency and trust in the industry.
As the case continues to unfold in court, it will likely serve as a cautionary tale for collectors and galleries alike, highlighting the need for due diligence in the sale and appraisal of high-value artworks.
While much of the seized artwork has been returned, the full scale of the alleged fraud is still being unraveled. Lucyshyn’s upcoming court appearances will be closely watched, not only by the legal community but also by the wider art world, as it navigates the fallout from one of Canada’s most significant art fraud cases in recent memory.
Art collectors and individuals who believe they may have been affected by this case are encouraged to contact the Saanich Police Department to inquire about any unclaimed pieces. Additionally, the case serves as a reminder for anyone involved in high-value art transactions to work with reputable dealers and to keep thorough documentation of all transactions.
As with any investment, whether in art or other ventures, it is crucial to be cautious and informed. Art fraud can devastate personal collections and finances, but by taking steps to verify authenticity, provenance, and the reputation of dealers, collectors can help safeguard their valuable pieces.
