Artist Talk by Susan Blight

Join us for an in-person lecture by Susan Blight (Anishinaabe, Couchiching First Nation), an interdisciplinary artist working with public art, site-specific intervention, photography, film and social practice. Her solo and collaborative work engages questions of personal and cultural identity and its relationship to space. Susan is co-founder of Ogimaa Mikana, an artist collective working to reclaim and rename the roads and landmarks of Anishinaabeg territory with Anishinaabemowin and is a member of the Indigenous Routes artist collective which works to provide free new media training for Indigenous youth. Susan received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography. a Bachelor of Arts in Film Studies from the University of Manitoba, and a Masters of Fine Arts from the University of Windsor in Integrated Media. She is currently a PhD candidate in Social Justice Education at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (UofT) and her dissertation looks at the visual and spatial formations of Anishinaabeg geographies of resistance. Susan is Delaney Chair in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University and an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Arts & Science.

The Visiting Artist Lecture Series is co-presented by the Doris McCarthy Gallery & Studio Art program, Department of Arts, Culture & Media, University of Toronto Scarborough. This semester's series addresses Indigenous sovereignty, a long-established statement of Indigenous peoples’ right to self-determination. By working towards autonomy and recognition as sovereign authority of the land, Indigenous sovereignty works to undo colonial narratives and assumptions of land ownership here in what is now called Canada. Each of us play a role in this goal, with much of the work beginning in an education on what Indigenous sovereignty looks like and how we can work towards it. For VALS 2022-2023, we will learn from Indigenous artists on how this work is manifested through their respective practices.

This talk is free and open to the public, all are welcome. Registration required. If you have accommodation needs, please let us know when registering or contact dmg.utsc@utoronto.ca.

U of T Scarborough students attending for course credit should register through CLNx rather than Eventbrite. See https://www.utsc.utoronto.ca/acm/upcoming-events for more details.

This is a seated event. AA304 is wheelchair accessible.