Skennen'kó:wa ken?
Do you carry great peace?
Exhibition
Public
Canada Pavilion at the Lee KangHa Art Museum as part of the Gwangju Biennale September 5 to November 15, 2026
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Curatorial Vision
Ryan Rice, Executive Director and Curator, Indigenous Art of Onsite Gallery at OCAD University, has curated an exhibition for the Canada Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale 2026. This exhibition will elevate the uniqueness of Canada's vibrant contemporary art scene, emphasizing the significant and critical contributions of artists, representative of those who have graduated from OCAD University—Canada’s largest and oldest art, design, and media university, celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2026.
Artistic Focus
The exhibition will foreground the creative practices of leading Indigenous contemporary artists whose work exemplifies critical and creative engagements with identity, place, culture, and social justice. Specifically, the exhibition will feature mixed media and lens-based works by three exceptional women artists: Melissa General, Hannah Claus, and Shelley Niro. Through photography, video, sculpture installation, and multimedia practices, these artists interrogate the complex, nuanced realities of contemporary experiences shaped distinctively in Canada, navigating deeply personal narratives within broader societal, cultural, and historical contexts.
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Curatorial Focus
The exhibition Skennen'kó:wa ken? Do you carry great peace? centres the work of the three artists Niro, General, and Claus (OCAD alumnus), whose practices are grounded in the philosophy of peace embedded in the Kanien’kehá:ka daily greeting from which the exhibition takes its name. This greeting, an affirmation of mutual recognition and respect, reflects a fundamental value of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (People of the Longhouse)—the oldest continuing democracy in the Americas, predating Western colonization.
Rooted in the Kaianere'kó:wa (The Great Law of Peace), this governance model is a living constitution, shaped by intentionality, consensus, and the ethical imperative of acting with a "good mind." The Great Law offers an enduring vision for peace achieved through relational balance, environmental stewardship, and participatory democracy—principles urgently needed on a global scale today.
This exhibition foregrounds the key role representative of women in Haudenosaunee political, cultural and spiritual life. Ascertained as stewards of the land and life-givers, women bear the responsibility of renewing, maintaining and carrying forward peace. Through their creative practices, Niro, General, and Claus engage the protocols of rematriation and the responsibilities of self/governance and sovereignty. They inherit and reinterpret the burdens and blessings of the Kaianere'kó:wa—carrying peace not as a static ideal, but as an active, embodied commitment to community, memory, and transformation.
Context and Relevance
Positioning OCAD University's Indigenous Visual Culture Program and its longstanding history attracting Indigenous artists, the university remains a nationally significant incubator for artistic talent. The exhibition will simultaneously showcase Canada's broader commitment to fostering and recognizing diverse contemporary art practices that were considered marginalized, misrepresented and excluded by the Western canon.
By integrating a cohesive Indigenous based curatorial and artistic narrative on an international platform, the exhibition underscores a distinct opportunity to represent the interconnectedness of visual storytelling, materiality, and spatial engagement inherent in contemporary art practices. This integrated approach authentically strengthens profound connections to land, environment, and community through an Indigenous, Canadian and Global lens, inviting viewers to experience richly layered interactions of visual sovereignty across imagery, object, and space.
Further enhancing this narrative, the exhibition aligns meaningfully with Canada's longstanding diplomatic relationship with Korea through Haudenosaunee philosophy, a model that resonates with the symbolic significance of Gwangju as a site of democratic resistance and renewal. This aligns powerfully with Canada's ongoing efforts toward reconciliation with First Nations, emphasizing parallel historical and contemporary narratives of resilience, justice, and cultural resurgence and distinction.
Impact and Representation
This curatorial approach ensures the exhibition transcends institutional representation, authentically reflecting Canada’s unique contemporary art landscape while recognizing OCAD University’s pivotal role in nurturing influential artistic voices. Presenting these artists at the Gwangju Biennale, Canada affirms its commitment to cultural sovereignty, representation, exchange, and the ongoing importance of inclusive dialogues in the global contemporary art sector/community.
Conclusion
Through this strategic and culturally resonant exhibition, the Canada Pavilion at the Gwangju Biennale 2026 will engage international audiences, highlighting not only the artistic excellence emerging from OCAD University but also illuminating the dynamic, critical contributions of Indigenous artists to counter and expand a monoculture framing of Canadian contemporary art.
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Gwangju Biennale
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Founded in 1995, the biennale hosts artists from around the world to explore important global issues, especially those related to cultural identity, human rights, and social justice topics that connect to the city’s history as a center for pro-democracy movements. The theme of the 2026 Gwangju Biennale, “You must change your life,” drawn from the final line of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem, Archaic Torso of Apollo, reflects on the transformative power of art in responding to the urgencies and crises of the present moment.
The exhibition is generously sponsored by former OCAD University Board member David Binet and supported by OCAD University, Onsite Gallery, the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, and presented in collaboration with the Lee KangHa Art Museum in Gwangju.
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Lee KangHa Art Museum
The Lee KangHa Art Museum is a first-class public art museum located in Yangnim-dong, a modern history and culture village in Gwangju. It newly opened in 2018 after remodelling the Yangnim-dong community office building as part of an urban regeneration project.
The museum honours the legacy of the late artist Lee KangHa, known as the "Painter of Mt. Mudeung" and a member of the citizen militia during the May 18 Gwangju Democratic Uprising. It connects this legacy internationally and introduces contemporary art from both Korea and abroad.
Against the backdrop of Korea's historical significance and international exchange projects, the museum operates various exhibitions and cultural education programs that bridge generations and eras. Since 2018, in collaboration with the Gwangju Biennale, it has organized exhibitions of the Philippines National Pavilion and the Canadian National Pavilion. The museum aims to be a hub for creative activities that fosters cultural communication, empathy, and knowledge by providing citizens with diverse artistic experiences.
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Hannah Claus
dish, 2025
acrylic, aluminum, glass beads, thread, digital prints on Jetview film, PVA glue
120” x 120” x 120”
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Hannah Claus
skybelt, 2023
5 panels of digital image facemounted to transparent acrylic sheet with aluminum floating frame
24” x 150”
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Hannah Claus
The language of the land, 2024
reproduction (of digital image facemounted to transparent acrylic sheet)
reproduction TBD – 60” x 96”
Melissa General
at the beginning of the woods, 2024
inkjet print mounted to aluminum composite
33.75” x 60”
Melissa General
ka'nikohri:io, 2024
inkjet print mounted to aluminum composite
33.75” x 60”
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Melissa General
Kehyá:ra’s, 2016
video
19 minutes 51 seconds
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Melissa General
Nitewakenon (the place where I come from), 2018/2025
Digital Image on Fabric
57.5” x 160”
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Melissa General
Reclamation, 2014
video
6 minutes 26 seconds
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Shelley Niro
From Brantford, 2022 - 2024
Pigment print on archival paper
33” x 20 ¾“ each, 7 works
Images courtesy of the artist
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Shelley Niro
Parallel Worlds of Women, 2025
Digital image
33.5” x 33.5” each, Installed as triptych
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Shelley Niro
The Shirt, 2003
Video
5 minutes 55 seconds
Images courtesy of the artist / NMAI, New York
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Curator and Artist Biographies
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Ryan Rice
Curator
Ryan Rice, Kanien’kehá:ka of Kahnawake, is a Toronto-based curator, critic, and creative consultant. With a curatorial career spanning over 35 years, he has worked across communities, museums, artist-run centres, public spaces, and galleries. Rice currently serves as Executive Director and Curator, Indigenous Art at OCAD University’s Onsite Gallery. He is the 2025 recipient of the Toronto Arts Foundation’s Margo Bindhardt and Rita Davies Cultural Leadership Award. His most recent curatorial project, Rosalie Favell | Belonging (1982–2024), is touring nationally across Canada through 2028.
With a deep commitment to fostering and advancing Indigenous artistic expression and visibility, Rice continues to be a vital figure in the arts and culture sector, championing Indigenous perspectives and contemporary art. He is a co-founder of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective, a two-term board member of the Inuit Art Foundation, an advisory member of Longhouse Labs and a consultant on Indigenous Public Art for Waterfront Toronto.
Lee Sun
Korean Partner Curator
Lee Sun, chief curator at the Lee KangHa Art Museum, has curated exhibitions focused on contemporary art that connects the past and the present and breaks down the boundaries of cities and nations. She served as co-curator for the Gwangju Biennale special exhibition, Maytoday: Between the Visible and the Speakable, commemorating the 40th anniversary of the May 18 Democratic Uprising, and as the executive curator for the Korea-Canada Arctic Research Project, a joint international arts fund project of the Korea Arts Council in 2023-24. She also managed Canadian Pavilion exhibitions at the 14th Gwangju Biennale.
Shelley Niro
Shelley Niro, a member of the Turtle Clan, Bay of Quinte Mohawk, Six Nations of the Grand River Reserve, was born in Niagara Falls, New York. A multidisciplinary artist working in painting, photography, and film, her work challenges colonial narratives while celebrating the resilience, strength, and beauty of Indigenous women and Mohawk culture.
Niro’s art has earned national and international recognition. She received the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts (2017), the Scotiabank Photography Award (2017), and the Ontario Arts Foundation’s Paul de Hueck and Norman Walford Career Achievement Award (2020). She has also been recognized with honorary doctorates from OCAD University, Western University, and Wilfrid Laurier University.
Her acclaimed works include seminal photo series such as Mohawks in Beehives and This Land is Mime Land, and films including Honey Moccasin, Kissed by Lightning, The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw (2018), and Café Daughter (2022). In 2023, her multi-year exhibition Shelley Niro: 500 Year Itch was her first major retrospective.
Melissa General
Melissa General is Mohawk/Oneida from Six Nations of the Grand River Territory. She is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art and Design and received a Masters of Fine Arts degree from York University. She is a multidisciplinary artist working in photography, audio, video and installation. Her practice is focused on her home territory of Six Nations and the Grand River and the concepts of memory, language, and land. Her artwork has been exhibited at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Lamont Gallery, Plug In Institute of Contemporary Art, Harbourfront Centre, Stride Gallery, Gallery 101, Gallery 44 for Contemporary Photography, Museu de Arte de São Paulo, KODE Bergen Art Museum and has been included in the 2016 Contemporary Native Art Biennial in Montréal. Her work is included in the Indigenous Art Collection stewarded by Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada’s Indigenous Art Centre. She is a Hnatyshyn Foundation REVEAL Indigenous Art Award laureate and was named as the 2018 Ontario Arts Council Indigenous Arts Award Emerging Artist laureate.
Hannah Claus
A member of Kenhtè:ke | Tyendinaga Mohawks of the Bay of Quinte, Hannah Claus engages with memory, identity and histories through material and cultural expressions in her artistic practice. Often working within Kanien’kehá:ka frameworks, her installations and two-dimensional artworks explore ways of understanding as active and transversal concepts. She is a recipient of the Eiteljorg Fellowship (2019) and the Prix Giverny (2020). Recent group exhibitions include Contextile: Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art (Guimarães, Portugual), Ascending Horizons (McMaster Museum Art Gallery, Hamilton, Ontario) and the North American touring exhibition, Radical Stitch. Her solo exhibition, tsi iotnekahtentiónhatie [where the waters flow], will be exhibited at the Canada House Gallery in London, England in September 2025. She is an Associate Professor in the Studio Arts Department at Concordia University in Tiohtià:ke | Montreal where she holds a Concordia University Research Chair in Onkehonwené:ha (2021-2026), and is Co-director of the Indigenous Futures Research Centre (2024-2027). Claus lives and works in Kanien’kehá:ka territory, Tiohtià:ke | Montreal, since 2001.
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