Art is Resilience
Indigenous artists stand as a force for cultural reclamation. Through a diverse mix of mediums, identities, and messages, they work to change the cultural perceptions of FNMI communities. This website is a celebration and exploration of the power of Indigenous art.
Art is Power
Power has long been stripped from FNMI communities through systematic displacement, suppression, and silencing. As these power structures change in the modern day, historically (and presently) oppressed communities struggle to find a new footing. Through this, art empowers, allowing the creators to reclaim control over their narrative, to gain influence like never before.
Art is Change
Change requires more than awareness, it needs action, transformation, and courage. FNMI art is not a simple documentation of the past, it is an active force in shaping the future. It challenges the view to reframe their perspective, it forms communities and creates rallying points upon which systemic change is born.
Art is Presence
It is all too easy for marginalized voices to fall into the background; their histories forgotten, their challenges neglected. FNMI art resists this, it draws attention, it creates conversation, it gives physical presence to the unseen. Through street art, sculpture, social media and more, artists are able to create a presence is the cultural zeitgeist.
Art is Empathy
Empathy starts with understanding. Oppression survives through ignorance and disinterest; for generations it has used dehumanization and othering as tools to separate the savage from the saviour. Undoing the layers of systemic oppression that FNMI communities face starts with contesting the longstanding history of worldwide disinterest. Art creates understanding, and through understanding comes empathy.
Art is Continuity
As a result of colonial oppression, generational fractures have formed in many Indigenous communities. This brings into question the continuance of cultural continuity; the expectation that the younger generations will carry on the traditions and memories of the old, allowing culture to exist as a continuous set of experiences. Through art, FNMI creators revive this, continuing and expanding upon the generational knowledge and history.