ARTH 391 Art and Its Changing Contexts: Indigenous and Settler Photography in Canada

• Thursdays, 11:45 am-14:15 pm
• Course delivery TBA
• Instructor: Dr. Reilley Bishop-Stall

This course will examine Indigenous and settler photography in Canada (and, to some extent, the United States) from settlement and confederation to the present moment. Photography has played a distinct and integral role in North American settler colonialism, functioning equally as a weapon of dispossession, misrepresentation, and control, and as a tool of empowerment, exposure and self-determination for Indigenous artists and activists. Through a series of thematic lectures, guided by the work of contemporary artists, this class will investigate the importance of photography to the formation of Canadian national identity, to the fields of anthropology, ethnography and fine art, and to colonial policies of assimilation, erasure and containment targeting Indigenous people. Engaging with the foundational characteristics of the medium and its longstanding association with imaging, obscuring or aestheticizing violence and atrocity, specific emphasis will be paid to the use of photography in the promotion and documentation of the Indian Residential School system, in the production and dissemination of racialized stereotypes, in conflict reporting in the news and on social media, and in the purported pursuit of “truth and reconciliation.” Since the camera’s invention, Indigenous people have proven popular subjects for European and settler photographers, but have had equally as long a history behind the camera. There is a rich tradition of Indigenous artists confronting and questioning the hegemony of settler photography in challenging, revelatory and anticolonial ways. Engaging closely with both historical archives and the work of contemporary artists, students will be asked to critically analyze both familiar and lesser-known images within the context of settler colonial Canada.