Nadia Myre: Waves of Want
Presented in conjunction with the Gallery's new Skawennati solo exhibition
OTTAWA, ON, May 28, 2025 /CNW/ - From May 30 to September 1, 2025, the National Gallery of Canada (NGC) presents Nadia Myre: Waves of Want, a solo exhibition that looks at the artistic and critical process of interdisciplinary artist Nadia Myre from over two decades, including new works recently created in France and in Scotland. Born in Montreal, Myre is a member of the Algonquin Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg Nation. The artist—a 2014 Sobey Art Award winner—uses a wide range of media (film, sculpture installation, audio, drawing, beadwork, photography, poetry and leather works) to tell stories that span generations.
"Nadia Myre is an internationally recognized artist, celebrated with multiple national arts awards over many years of active practice," said Jean-François Bélisle, Director & CEO, National Gallery of Canada. "Her works shape elegant and uneasy questions and reflections about coloniality and Indigenous sovereignty, and the materials that have shaped those experiences. The National Gallery of Canada is proud to present visitors with artistic experiences that reflect our ongoing challenges and opportunities as a society and as a culture."
"Nadia Myre's artworks embody gestures of decolonization, both literally and figuratively, recording observations and injustice amidst the intersections of cultures, languages and identities. Enigmatic, thoughtful and perceptive, Myre mines personal and collective memory to craft decolonial narratives in unexpected ways," wrote Steven Loft, Vice-President, and Michelle LaVallee, Director, Indigenous Ways and Curatorial Initiatives, of Indigenous Ways and Decolonization at the NGC, in their introduction to the exhibition catalogue.
Organized by the National Gallery of Canada and curated by Rachelle Dickenson, Associate Curator, from the Indigenous Ways and Decolonization Department at the NGC, with the artist and Gallery staff, Nadia Myre: Waves of Want brings together more than 60 works from various collections and sparks reflection and dialogue on how we navigate our histories through art, archive and language.
Presented for the first time ever in Canada is Your Waves of Want Wash Over Us (2024), an almost 9-meter-long installation made of a series of tubular, curved ceramics forms affixed to the wall that Nadia Myre created in France. With this work, from which the title of the exhibition is inspired, Myre uses different forms of communication to convey the complicated relationships between colonialism and Indigenous nationhood, as well as between people.
Among other key works on view is History in Two Parts (2000), a canoe made of birch bark and aluminum that the artist recently restored at the Gallery with artist Pinock aka Daniel Smith, also a member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation. A video she created shortly after the canoe, titled Portrait in Motion, is also on view in the last gallery of the exhibition. It is a portrait of Myre's rejection of the Western gaze to subvert romanticized notions of Indigenous people.
Most of the art works on display in Nadia Myre: Waves of Want are drawn from the artist's personal collection. Other works on view are from the National Gallery of Canada's collection (5), the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art, Indianapolis, US and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
Catalogue
A richly illustrated catalogue with essays accompanies the exhibition Nadia Myre: Waves of Want. The 176—pages softcover comprises essays by Guy Sioui Durand and Marie-Ève Beaupré and is available at the Boutique and online.
Public programs
A shared space, Giiwitaashkodeng | Kahwá:tsire—the Gathering of all Embers, is connecting the exhibitions Skawennati: Welcome to the Dreamhouse and Nadia Myre: Waves of Want, both presented at the same time. This gathering space is for coming together, learning and reflecting on both exhibitions. In Giiwitaashkodeng | Kahwá:tsire, visitors are invited to leave their reflections on the exhibitions as part of the community fire and create their own wallpaper designs and paper dolls inspired by the works of Skawennati and Nadia Myre. Additional learning activities planned include beading workshops with Ojibwe artist Amanda Fox, miniature birch bark canoe workshop with Algonquin artisan Pinock (Daniel Smith), special meet the artist tours, and ongoing tours with interpreters. Visit gallery.ca for more details.
About the National Gallery of Canada
Founded in 1880, the National Gallery of Canada is among the world's most respected art institutions. As a national museum, we exist to serve all Canadians, no matter where they live. We do this by sharing our collection, exhibitions and public programming widely. We create dynamic experiences that allow for new ways of seeing ourselves and each other through the visual arts, while centering Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Our mandate is to develop, preserve and present a collection for the learning and enjoyment of all—now and for generations to come. We are home to more than 90,000 works, including one of the finest collections of Indigenous and Canadian art, major works from the 14th to the 21st century and extensive library and archival holdings.
Ankosé – Everything is connected – Tout est relié
SOURCE National Gallery of Canada
View original content to download multimedia: http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2025/28/c0391.html
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Fourth annual Greater Napanee Pride celebrated with parade, festivities
'Look around,' Greater Napanee Pride Committee Chair Chris Beauchesne told the several hundred people gathered for Napanee's Pride Day 2025. 'This is what community looks like. This is what Pride looks like. This is what showing up looks like.' These upbeat words were greeted with cheers from the crowd. Smiles and rainbows brought cheer to the damp, chilly weather when Greater Napanee officially opened Pride month celebrations in the region. On Saturday, May 31, 2025, the fourth annual Pride celebration began on the stage under the Conservation Park pavilion. The Greater Napanee Pride Committee and a handful of dignitaries opened the day by sharing remarks with an energetic audience. Chief Don Maracle of the Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte told the traditional Indigenous story of the strawberry. In Mohawk teachings, the strawberry —- ken\'niiohontésha, or 'heart berry' —- holds significant cultural and spiritual meaning, particularly as a woman's medicine. It is a sacred fruit associated with creation, community, and love. Shelby Kramp-Neuman, Member of Parliament (MP) for Hastings—Lennox and Addington—Tyendinaga, presented Greater Napanee Pride with a certificate of recognition for their continued dedication. She celebrated Greater Napanee as 'a community where diversity is valued and everyone deserves to live authentically and safely... Discrimination has no place in our communities. Who you are and who you love should never be questioned.' Her provincial counterpart, Member of Provincial Parliament (MPP) Ric Bresee, showed his support for the annual celebration from a wheelchair, indicating that he had had an accident about a month ago but is recovering 'quite nicely.' Bresee acknowledged that there are still many places in the world that 'are rolling back the progress that we've made over decades. There are places in the world that are punishing people for being their true selves, for being who they are. We've got to stand against that. Always.' 'Here's the thing: we need Pride now more than ever,' Beauchesne said. 'We are living in a time when 2SLGBTQIA+ rights are being stripped away around the world. Books are being banned. Health care is being denied. Queer and trans people are being targeted just for existing. And we cannot be complacent because it isn't happening in Canada —- because it is. Trans rights were a campaign issue once again, just over a month ago. Hate exists right here in this community, as much as we would love to tell you it doesn't.' 'When we say we want Greater Napanee to be safe for everyone, we mean everyone —- and that includes trans people.' Vice Chair Tiffany Lloyd took up this theme, saying, 'Lately, we've heard a lot of public discourse that claims to be about women's safety. But let's be honest—if you only bring up women's safety when you're talking about who uses a Walmart bathroom, you're not protecting women. You're using women as an excuse to be transphobic.' 'If you really care about women's safety, let's start in the streets. Let's start in our own homes. Let's start in our workplaces… Women and gender-diverse people are most at risk where they live and work, not in public washrooms,' Lloyd continued. 'We will not stand by while fear is weaponized against some of the most vulnerable members of our community. Pride is first and foremost a protest, and that means standing with our trans neighbours, not just when it's easy, but especially when it's not.' 'Today isn't just about glitter and rainbows,' Beauchesne added, 'though we love both.' 'It's about visibility. It's about resistance. It's about making it absolutely, undeniably clear: Canada can not go backward. Napanee can not go backward. Do not become complacent because the work is done. Every flag you raise, every street you march, every voice you lift —- it all matters.' 'So, whether you're here for your first Pride or your 50th —- whether you're out, questioning, or just showing up as an ally —- thank you. You are part of something bigger today,' Beauchesne concluded. 'Let this parade be loud! Let it be proud! Let it be unapologetic! Because when we say we're building a world where everyone is safe, loved, and free, we mean everyone. Happy Pride! Now let's hit the streets and make it count!' With that, a parade along Napanee's picturesque waterfront trail began, with participants passing under a rainbow arch of balloons, then along the Napanee River, up past the Napanee Falls in Springside Park, and through downtown. Smiles, cheering, singing, and dancing accompanied the day's festivities, which included a market in the park, Drag Queen Story Time presented by the Napanee branch of the Lennox and Addington Library, free children's activities, and live music. The festivities were capped off with Pride in the Country, which featured local drag entertainers Rowena Whey, Tyffanie Morgan, Street Meat, and Oktavia, as well as Canada's Drag Race star Juice Boxx. More information about Greater Napanee Pride can be found on the group's website . As the first week of Pride Month got underway, the South East Health Unit issued messaging in support of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, explaining the role the Public Health Unit plays in health equity. 'Pride is both a celebration of the diverse sexualities, genders and gender expressions of individuals that make up our communities, and a movement to increase visibility and awareness of the inequities that impact 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals. The South East Health Unit (SEHU) has an important role to play in advocating for health equity,' the SEHU said. According to the Health Unit, gender identity and sexual orientation are determinants of health that can have a significant impact on the health outcomes of individuals and communities alike. The SEHU said that factors that contribute to health inequities include discrimination and stigmatization, which 'can be worse when other determinants of health' such as race/racism, income, or social status 'intersect with gender identity, gender expression or sexual orientation.' 'Stigma and discrimination can limit people's access to health care, education, jobs, housing, and social connections, affecting overall health and wellbeing. These challenges can be lessened through social support, understanding, and allyship. Allyship is a process of building trusting relationships through learning, listening, and supporting the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,' the SEHU explained. The local Health Unit said that it aims to increase allyship in a number of ways, including providing inclusive services to gender diverse new parents, supporting individuals of all sexual orientations in its clinics, and 'so much more.' 'As an agency committed to helping our communities to be as healthy as they can be, it is important for the South East Health Unit to be leaders in voicing our support for the 2SLGBTQIA+ community,' said Dr. Piotr Oglaza, Medical Officer of Health and CEO for SEHU, in a statement. 'Discrimination and stigmatization are damaging factors for both mental and physical health, and lead to harmful outcomes for individuals who face these realities. South East Health Unit staff strive to be supportive, inclusive and welcoming to all individuals who access our services.' The local Health Unit said that Public Health staff will participate in several Pride activities throughout the region to 'further demonstrate support,' and invited the community to learn more about sexual orientation and gender identity and expression as they relate to health through its website . Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Hamilton Spectator
an hour ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Opposition MPs add call for a spring economic update to throne speech
OTTAWA - Government whip Mark Gerretsen insists nothing went wrong with a throne speech sub-amendment vote that now calls on the government to table an economic update before Parliament breaks for the summer. The Liberals were defeated 166 to 164 Monday evening after four Liberal MPs did not vote because of paired abstentions. 'Paired abstentions' happen when parties agree to have a member sit out a vote because someone from another party is not able to attend. The sub-amendment, tabled by interim Opposition leader Andrew Scheer, adds a passage to the throne speech that calls for some kind of spring economic update. It also says that update should include the government's plan to 'unleash Canada's economic potential' and explain how it will respect provincial jurisdiction and Indigenous rights. Government House leader Steven MacKinnon says this is a non-binding motion and the vote that really matters is the confidence motion tomorrow on adopting the throne speech. This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 3, 2025. Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
Business Wire
an hour ago
- Business Wire
CUPE Ontario Delegates Unanimously Call for Ford's Bill 5 to Be Scrapped
TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nearly a thousand voting delegates at CUPE Ontario's annual convention last week unanimously adopted an emergency resolution to oppose and defeat the Ford Conservatives' Bill 5, currently being rushed through the legislature and into law. Bill 5 will give Doug Ford and his cabinet the power to create, with the stroke of a pen, no-law 'Special Economic Zones' anywhere in the province. CUPE Ontario convention delegates specifically condemned Schedule 9 of this overreaching and antidemocratic omnibus bill as posing grave threats to workers' rights, Indigenous sovereignty, environmental protections, and public accountability. Delegates to the convention came from thousands of workplaces across the province: municipal services, hospitals, long-term care and health care, schools, universities and libraries, as well as a wide variety in social services, including child care, child protection agencies, community supports for persons with developmental disabilities, services for the Deaf, deafblind, and hard of hearing, supportive housing, and injured workers' compensation. 'Just three months ago, a minority of eligible Ontarians – only 45 percent – showed up to vote in the provincial election, and it was the votes of merely one in five people that gave Doug Ford's Conservatives a majority of seats in our provincial legislature,' observed Fred Hahn, developmental services worker and president of CUPE Ontario. 'If this isn't a weak mandate, I don't know what is. 'Nothing that Premier Ford told you or me during the election campaign gives him license to consolidate more power for himself and his cabinet ministers – and especially not to eliminate environmental protections, disrespect First Nations, and suspend workers' basic rights. But that's what Bill 5 will do. It's a Trump-style power grab by Doug Ford, who said he'd protect us from the anti-Canadian authoritarian in the White House. 'With Doug Ford's Greenbelt corruption scandal still under active police investigation and his wage-suppressing Bill 124 overturned by the courts at significant expense to the public, we encourage Conservative MPPs to urge their colleagues in cabinet to scrap Bill 5 now.' CUPE Ontario unites 290,000 frontline public sector workers throughout Canada's largest province whose labour underpins every cent of economic growth here. Their 61st annual CUPE Ontario convention began on Wednesday in Toronto and wrapped up Saturday morning. The full text of CUPE Ontario's resolution to oppose Bill 5: CUPE Ontario's Resolution to Oppose and Defeat Bill 5 CUPE Ontario will launch a comprehensive, province-wide campaign—uniting all parts of our union with community and labour allies—to vigorously oppose and defeat Bill 5. This campaign will include: Educating Ontarians about the serious threats posed by the bill's Special Economic Zone (SEZ) provisions, which give Cabinet unchecked power to suspend or amend any law, directly undermining vital labour protections such as the Employment Standards Act, Labour Relations Act, and Occupational Health and Safety Act. Mobilizing our members to raise public awareness about the dangers of a two-tier system that would erode working conditions for all. Building the broadest possible coalition to demand the immediate and full withdrawal of this dangerous legislation. Because: Introduced on April 17, 2025, Bill 5's SEZs pose grave threats to workers' rights, Indigenous sovereignty, environmental protections, and public accountability—amounting to a fundamental attack on democratic processes. We cannot claim to be 'Elbows Up' to 'Protect Ontario Workers' while adopting the worst anti-democratic measures being introduced south of the border. Defeating this draconian bill demands the united strength and collective action of our entire union, the broader labour movement, and all Ontarians committed to fairness and justice.
