About this Event
Presented as part of Indigenous Education Week at the University of Toronto, this program brings community together with artists and curators, to consider, discuss, and learn more about the works of Indigenous artists in the Doris McCarthy Gallery's current exhibitions.
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11 am – 12:30 pm
Christian Chapman in conversation with Caitlyn Bird and Sandy Saad-Smith
Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough
Christian Chapman, an Anishinaabe artist from Fort William First Nation in Ontario, has always cherished and attended to stories, admiring their depth, elusiveness, the ways they carry meaning, and how storytellers in his family — young and old — could uniquely animate their being. These stories warmly anchored him in Anishinaabe traditions from the north shore of Lake Superior, stretching back to times before his own. He would listen, carefully attentive, beaming with his own curiosity. For Chapman, these stories are treasures, sources of inspiration and influence that travel with him into the shifting imaginary of Anishinaabe storytelling.
Chapman will be joined by Doris McCarthy Gallery curators Caitlyn Bird and Sandy Saad-Smith for a conversation that addresses how these stories are expressed through his Woodland-style paintings, his approach to artmaking and artistic influences, and his work in the current Doris McCarthy Gallery exhibition, Cartographies of Longing.
12:30 - 1:30 pm
Lunch & Giveaway
Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough
1:45 - 2:15 pm
Guided tour of tókša | I Will See You Again
Instructional Centre atrium
Curated by Caitlyn Bird, tókša | I Will See You Again features works by Jaida Grey Eagle, an Oglala Lakota artist from the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Created in relation to her homeland and community, this exhibition brings together cyanotype photographs and beaded earrings that in unison, reflect Grey Eagle’s relationship to land, culture, and storytelling.
2:30 - 3 pm
Guided tour of Cartographies of Longing
Doris McCarthy Gallery
Curated by Sandy Saad-Smith, Cartographies of Longing brings together artists—Muriel Ahmarani Jaouich, Nour Bishouty, Amanda Boulos, Deanna Bowen, Christian Chapman, Meryl McMaster, Arthur Shilling, Travis Shilling, and Shellie Zhang—whose practices draw upon family histories, oral traditions, and archival fragments to map intergenerational relationships to land. Rather than presenting land as a fixed geography, the exhibition approaches it as a living archive, continually formed through memory, storytelling, movement, and lived experience.
This program is co-presented by the Doris McCarthy Gallery; Indigenous Initiatives & Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough; and First Nations House, as part of Indigenous Education Week at the University of Toronto. The theme of this year's IEW is Indigenous visual arts/culture, and includes Indigenous guest speakers, facilitators, knowledge keepers, educators and community members to celebrate Indigenous identity, culture, research, community, education, and much more at the University of Toronto.
Free, open to the public. Registration required. Catered lunch will be served.
For U of T students, staff, and faculty, return transportation will be available to U of T Scarborough from St. George campus. Please let us know through the registration form if you would like to take this option.
This is a seated program. Indigenous House is wheelchair accessible. If you have accommodation needs, please let us know through the registration form or contact [email protected].
Image: Christian Chapman, ride the lightning (detail), 2025. Acrylic on canvas, 106.6 x 106.6 cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Event venue & nearby stays
Indigenous House, U of T Scarborough, 1053 Military Trail, Toronto, Canada
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