The London Arts Council is putting a virtual spotlight on a project first started 2020.
The Indigenous London Arts website is showcasing a series of projects that are on display at the Tourism London Welcome Centre on Wellington Road South.
Eunju Yi, Executive Director of the London Arts Council in front of a sister piece of an artwork showcased at the Tourism London Welcome Centre. (Mike Lacasse / XFM News)
“What we have been doing is really promoting this allyship,” says Eunju Yi, the Executive Director of the London Arts Council. “In 2015 we started these listening sessions by inviting Indigenous community members […] to guide us on how to work within Indigenous communities, especially within the art sector.”
Yi says that the information they gained in these sessions changed the direction the London Art Council was taking in terms of its operations, services and programs regarding the Indigenous community.
“This Indigenous London Arts website is really the fruition of all those years of work that London Arts Council has been actively doing, by working actively with surrounding First Nations communities,” says Yi.
She also says that they have a current roster of Indigenous artists and are actively reaching out to the Indigenous community in the goal of cultivating allyship.
“We are really trying to change the narrative of artwork. Like the anti-oppression, anti-racism and all those colonialism [narratives]. We are really trying to tackle those issues within the art sector,” says Yi.
London Arts Council is excited to officially launch the Indigenous London Arts website.
This curated space was developed by Summer Bressette, LAC’s former Curator, Indigenous Programming, and Web Designer Katie Wilhelm.
Visit the website here:https://t.co/pxAV1h9cpP pic.twitter.com/MrZyIWSAXS
— London Arts Council (@LdnArtsCouncil) June 17, 2022
The Tourism London Welcome Centre project is a curated experience that’s comprised of 13 pieces of artwork done by 8 artists: Annette Sullivan, Brenda Collins, Chandra Nolan, Mike Cywink, Oscar Marroquin-Ponce, Rene Jewell and Steve Maracle.
The London Arts Council is also working with various Indigenous artists to promote their future works.
“Completely new artists with new work [were selected], and what we did was after the exhibition was curated, [was] we actually nurtured a relationship by working with the artists and invited them to further professional development opportunities,” says Yi.
They are also involved in several art projects across the city, including three sculptures and a mural set to be unveiled next month done by one of the artists involved in the Tourism London Welcome Centre project.
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