video / 1:02:56
In Conversation: Bonnie Devine and Alexander Irving
Delivered as part of the program Conversations on Carl Beam's 'The Columbus Suite'
A conversation between artist Bonnie Devine and U of T Scarborough faculty member Alexander Irving on Carl Beam’s influential series The Columbus Suite, delivered as part of the program 'Conversations on Carl Beam's The Columbus Suite'. Closing by Elder Josh Eshkawkogan and Ann MacDonald, Executive Director and Chief Curator at the Doris McCarthy Gallery.
Presented by the Doris McCarthy Gallery in partnership with the Department of Arts, Culture & Media and the Office of Indigenous Initiatives, University of Toronto Scarborough, 'Conversations on Carl Beam's The Columbus Suite' celebrated the acquisition of Carl Beam's work to the Doris McCarthy Gallery's permanent collection. Held in U of T Scarborough’s Sam Ibrahim Building on March 12, 2025, the program also featured a keynote presentation by Beam’s daughter, Anong Migwans Beam, with opening and closing by Elder Josh Eshkawkogan.
Video courtesy of Peppercorn Imagine Studio.
---
Bonnie Devine is a member of the Serpent River First Nation, an Anishinaabe/Ojibwe territory in central Ontario on the north shore of Lake Huron. She is an installation artist, painter, curator, writer, and educator. Her work emerges from a deep interest in and commitment to the storytelling and pictorial traditions that are central to the history and development of Anishinaabe culture. These interests are central to her art practice and are expressed in image and object, video and teaching, storytelling and political ideas.
Alexander Irving was born in Ottawa on un-ceded Anishinaabe Algonquin territory. An artist and educator, he has exhibited his work nationally and internationally and is a recipient of awards from the Ontario, Toronto, and Canada Councils. Irving currently teaches in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at the University of Toronto, Scarborough.
Elder Josh Eshkawkogan is a Traditional Healer, Knowledge Keeper, Pipe Carrier, Sweat Lodge Conductor, Anishinaabe language speaker, orator, and cultural teachings provider. He is a descendant of Chief Ozawanimiki and a member of the Wikwemikong Unceded Indian Reserve, home of the Three Fires Confederacy.
