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Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Contemporaries: New Identities and Urban Realities
Differences in contemporary art arise from artists diverse perceptions of reality. It stems from different cultural and historical experiences, including the artists origin. Indigenous and non-indigenous people face misunderstandings of each other in one way or another, but this is normal. It is probably due to differences in the influence of other countries and territories: for Canada, it is the influence of European states and especially French tendencies. The work of indigenous and non-indigenous artists is different because outside influences have invariably transformed the perception of reality.
Consider how artists belonging to the Quebec Modernist movement behaved. Ferrand Leduc regularly exhibited French grandeur notably La Dernière campagne de Napoléon (1946). He idealized social theories along with a surrealist perception of reality. The work is saturated with harshness and unrestraint; Leduc aspired to typical European freedom where values were raised to a new level. He believed his goal was to create a new product of Canadian identity that would reflect their needs and take art as a whole to a new level.
Paul-Émile Borduas protested against the Catalan takeover of Quebec, which led to the violation of workers rights. He argued for free art of the anarchist type against everything customary that stopped development Automatisme 1.47 [Sous le vent de lile] (Borduas, 1947). He reflected the fragmentation of a society in crisis from an oversaturation of the old. This oversaturation can also be seen in the works of André Masson (Battle of Fishes, 1926). Even before the Automatist movement, he was inclined toward freedom of consciousness and surrealism. Thus, the fundamental ideas reflected in modernism were the freedom of the spirit, the anarchic perception of reality, and, most importantly, the surrealism of being.
At the same time, indigenous art sought a somewhat different understanding of art stylistic and material attributes of reality should be elevated above social relations. One of the first Indigenous art exhibitions was People of the Potlatch in 1956. It extolled material culture as dominant: the Haida decorations made by Bill Reid proved to be objects of the revival of primordialism. The idea was to preserve indigenous values but elevate them to an aesthetic and modernity. Bill Reid created the Jade Canoe (1994) to demonstrate the harm of deforestation on indigenous ancestral traditions. Robert Davidsons later work in the form of a totem pole (Raven and Eagle Pole, 1969) became one of the symbols of the national Native American movement to claim identity. The indigenous cultural expression became a tool of political struggle.
European tendencies about freedom and the influence of North American movements have led to a combination of movement, freshness, and the preservation of cultural knowledge in contemporary art in Canada. They were not fully entrenched in society, but they changed the perception of materiel objects of culture they gained market value because they demonstrated a political orientation. Although the colonial past remained too strong an imprint on the consciousness of society, still the opportunity for self-expression and recognition of rights changed the way Indigenous art was treated.
Among Canadas most famous Native artists is Norval Morriseau, who wanted to break free from the governments assimilationist policies. While wandering around the country, he acquired cultural material objects that directed him toward a different type of worldview. Morriseau regarded his work (e.g., Thunderbird 1960, Mishupishu 1972) as an extension of indigenous culture: oral histories of the Ojibwe (visual language) served as the primary source of knowledge of the world. It renounced typical composition and shifted to increasingly abstract forms. This shift to increasingly separate and spiritual elements likely led to his works becoming part of primitive simplicity.
Canadian identity is a complex issue of confrontation between the desire to conform to ones own indigenous cultural traditions, European and American currents of freedom, and ones past. The problem arose that indigenous art was not a value but a product of mere primitive consumption. Daphne Odjigs art, however, demonstrates that this was the only way recognition could be achieved. In particular, in The Indian in Transition (1978), she reveals the plight of the Indian people as they faced colonialism and genocide. In Earth Mother (1969), she reiterates the need to recognize the value of indigenous art. Odjig manipulated art by making it marketable and forcing consumers to value it so that Native peoples could gain cultural survival. The political struggle was a significant source in countering the echoes of the colonial past.
The acquired identity of modernist artists was expressed in a desire to push back against the colonial past and conform to the principles of the new reality. The direct reflection of modernism was the shift to a new perception of the value of art freedom of expression and free will were now central concepts. Non-indigenous art expressed itself in opposition to invasive state policies, while indigenous art attempted to lead its peoples into a new cultural representation. As a result, cultural identity in Canada remains incomplete, as a culture of consumerism and primitiveness has led to a misunderstanding of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists modernism.
Works Cited
Borduas, Paul-Émile. Automatisme 1.47 [Sous le vent de lile]. 1947, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Davidson, Robert. Raven and Eagle Pole. 1969, Museum of Anthropology, Vancouver
Leduc, Ferrand. La Dernière campagne de Napoléon. 1946, National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa
Masson, André. Battle of Fishes. 1926, The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
Morrisseau, Norval. Mishupishu. 1972, Collection of the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec
Morrisseau, Norval. Thunderbird. 1960, Collection of the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec
Odjig, Daphne. Earth Mother. 1969, Collection of the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec
Odjig, Daphne. The Indian in Transition. 1978, Collection of the Canadian Museum of History, Gatineau, Quebec
People of the Potlatch exhibition. 1969, Vancouver Art Gallery
Reid, Bill. Spirit of Haida Gwaii, the Jade Canoe. 1994, Vancouver International Airport
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