Art Gallery of Mississauga director Mandy Salter presenting a Chinese "delegate"
with a First Nations textile durng the delegation's visit to the AGM
A mysterious "Chinese Delegation" was apparently in Mississauga last week. According to an events planner whom I found dismantling a conference in the hallway of the Mississauga Civic Centre in which they had participated, they were visiting the various museums around Mississauga, including the Art Gallery of Mississauga.
I could find no information on this group, not in the websites of the many Chinese organizations in Mississauga, not at the various museum sites. I found only the photo (plus three others) above at the AGM's instagram and a few more at the gallery's twitter page. But even there the information is scant, such as the instagram caption: "This morning [October 31], we had the absolute honour of touring the gallery with our guests from the Chinese Delegation. It was a pleasure hosting them and we hope to see them all soon!"
What is astonishing about the photo above is the reverence with which the AGM's curator Mandy Salter presents the piece of cloth, and the slightly confused awe with which the "Chinese Delegate" receives it, as though she was caught up in Salter's trance-like behaviour but couldn't emulate it.
I wonder if Salter would present a Homer Watson painting with equal delicacy? Of course not! In fact, she wouldn't present one at all, as she demonstrated to this illusive Chinese delegation. And the very fact that one of his pieces, so artistic and so refined, is not showcased in a gift-giving protocol tells everything.
As Kendra Ainsworth, then Assistant Curator at the AGM (and now no longer there - see this recent post) wrote in the Watson exhibition catalogue in 2015:
For colonial settlers [sic], Homer Watson, and for Canadians of European heritage today the Canadian landscape is something one can easily place oneself in, whereas for First Nations peoples, interactions with the Canadian landscape are much more politicized. To even consider a truthful representation of landscape we must ask who lives in this landscape and how are they allowed to interact with it?The AGM's website "About" page has the following:
[Kendra Ainsworth. The Quest for theTrueNorth(s), In Beyond The Pines: Homer Watson and the Contemporary Canadian Landscape. 2015]
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTThese Chinese visitor delegates have a steep learning curve.
The Art Gallery of Mississauga (AGM) would like to acknowledge and give thanks to the land on which we work. The AGM is a respectful guest upon the Traditional Treaty Territory of the Mississauga’s of the Credit First Nation and traditional homeland of the Anishinaabe, Wendat and Haudenosaunee nations. We are thankful to the many First Nations, Inuit, Métis and global Indigenous peoples who call this region home.
The AGM is committed to recognizing and incorporating diverse Indigenous perspectives within exhibitions and programming, and highlighting the numerous Indigenous artists who have contributed to this gallery. The AGM is dedicated to providing a platform for contemporary Indigenous art and curatorial practices, and hosts events and programs that reflect various cultural topics and identities.
