About the Program
In 2017, the Province of Ontario invited art and design students from the Indigenous Visual Culture program at OCAD University to visit and interact with cultural objects in the Indigenous collection at the Royal Ontario Museum. The project was intended to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding of Ontario.
The students studied and reflected on the objects they had chosen for six months, learning everything they could about their history, fabrication and traditional uses.
They then made art works to express the beauty of these objects and their enduring cultural importance. The students’ responses ventured into the futuristic and imaginary as they considered the transformative power the objects still possess, the stories they still have to tell, and the work they still have to do.
By sharing their responses on this website the students and creative team hope to encourage more research and interaction with Indigenous items currently in storage in institutions around the world, to uncover and recover their histories and futurities.
Our Team
Bonnie Devine, instructor, project lead
Elisha Lim, project manager
Samaa Ahmed, research and digitization assistant
Bernard Leroux, teaching, research, and digitization assistant
Samuel Strong, research and digitization assistant
Wendy Whaley, research and digitization assistant
Michael Crawford, student, artist
Kaia’tanoron Dumoulin, student, artist
Megan Feheley, student, artist
Shawn Johnston, student, artist
Mariah Meawasige, student, graphic designer
Ana Morningstar, student, artist
Karalyn Reuben, student, artist
Meagan Van Capelle, student, visual and critical studies major