GUEST CURATED BY
LINDA GRUSSANI
AS PART OF THE MAWADISHIWEWIN (VISITS) SERIES
Special Projects Gallery
January 24 to May 18, 2024
Mawadishiwewin (visits) is a year-long two-part collection of solo exhibitions that delve into the connections we form through visiting, creating, and sharing. The first exhibition, ᐳᓛᖃᑎᒌᑦ (Pulaaqatigiit), features artwork by Taqralik Partridge, contemplating a space to honour and visit with loved ones that have moved beyond the physical realm.
The curatorial premise for Mawadishiwewin (visits) finds its origins amidst the challenges for various forms of communities to gather and the ability to locate a significant sense of community amidst a global pandemic. This exhibition works at collapsing distances between places (physical and virtual) by drawing on relationships strengthened when much of the world was isolated during a global pandemic and building on ideas of visiting, cultural continuity, community building and networking in Indigenous ways of knowing and being. Commonalities of respect, work, art, and the accumulation of so many stories, skill-sharing and travel will enrich the rapport presented in the exhibition.
ᐳᓛᖃᑎᒌᑦ (Pulaaqatigiit) Exhibtion Publication
Promotional image credit: Taqralik Partridge, Ukpik, detail, 2023. Image courtesy of the artist.
ᐳᓛᖃᑎᒌᑦ (Pulaaqatigiit) Exhibition Documentation
About the Artist
Taqralik Partridge is an artist, writer, spoken word poet, and curator from Kuujjuaq, Nunavik. Her artwork has been showcased both nationally and internationally, with exhibitions at venues such as the MacKenzie Art Gallery (Radical Stitch), Carleton University Art Gallery (The Baroness von Elsa Project), Leonard and Bina Ellen Art Gallery (Among All These Tundras), and the Sydney Biennale in Australia.
Partridge's performance work has been featured on CBC radio one, and she has toured with the Montreal Symphony Orchestra. In 2020, she published a book of poetry titled curved against the hull of a peterhead. Some of Partridge’s writing has been translated into Swedish and French languages.
Taqralik Partridge is the former director of the Nordic Lab at SAW gallery in Ottawa and adjunct curator at the Art Gallery of Guelph.
About the Curator
Linda Grussani (Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg/Italian ancestry) is a curator, art historian and former arts administrator born, raised, and residing on Anishinàbe Akì in the Ottawa area.
For more than 20 years, Grussani has been dedicated to advancing Indigenous arts and culture, promoting positive structural change, and advancing Indigenous cultural diplomacy as a curator, arts administrator, academic, and mentor. Grussani most recently served as the Curator of Aboriginal Art at the Canadian Museum of History, as Director of the Indigenous Art Centre for Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada and has held various curatorial positions at the National Gallery of Canada.
Grussani is pursuing a doctoral degree in the Cultural Studies program at Queen's University. Her research focuses on the recommendations, policies, and methodologies that have influenced the relationships between Indigenous people and institutions in museums and galleries on Anishinàbe Akì over the last 50 years.
Onsite Gallery Free Public Events
January to May 2024
Opening Reception - Wednesday, January 24th, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., at Onsite Gallery, 199 Richmond Street West
Join us for the public launch of Onsite Gallery’s exhibitions with opening remarks, quilliq lighting and reception.
Artist / Curator Talk: Taqralik Partridge in conversation with Linda Grussani - Wednesday, April 17 – 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. , at Onsite Gallery, 199 Richmond Street West
In partnership with Native Women in the Arts, join us for an exclusive Artist / Curator Talk with Taqralik Partridge and Linda Grussani, as they share their experience recognizing the resilience of human connections they developed during a global pandemic and the richness of Indigenous wisdom bridging physical and virtual spaces.
Register here: https://bit.ly/3IpoMoY
The Mawadishiwewin (visits) exhibition series is generously supported by the Ontario Arts Council, an agency of the Government of Ontario through the Curatorial Projects: Indigenous and Culturally Diverse program.
Onsite Gallery is generously supported by The Delaney Family.
