First Nations of the American Northwest Coast
Traditions and Contemporary Issues

This symposium, intended as a continuation of the exhibition “First Nations—Arts and Cultures of the American Northwest,” aims to explore cultural, artistic, and museological aspects. Such a gathering will highlight the partnerships established with First Nations as part of the exhibition, while broadening the discussion to include broader societal issues.

This dialogue will serve as the foundation for future collaborations in cultural fields of interest to Canadian, American, and Indigenous partners, as well as to French museum institutions.

The development of classical and contemporary arts and their multifaceted connections to cultural aspects will also be a major focus of the symposium.

One of the missions of the Americas Heritage Unit at the Musée du quai Branly – Jacques Chirac is to collect and promote the arts of Indigenous partners. Consequently, artists such as James Hart and Meghan O’Brien will be invited to speak. Other important cultural aspects of First Nations will be addressed by hereditary chiefs K’odi Nelson and James Hart.

Relationships between museums and Indigenous communities will be explored through presentations by speakers such as Nika Collison, associate curator of the exhibition and director of the Haida Gwaii Museum; Tłaliłałas Juanita Johnston, director of the U’mista Cultural Center; Haa’yuups Ron Hamilton, art historian; Jennifer Kramer and Jordan Wilson, curators at the University of British Columbia Museum of Anthropology; Kathryn Bunn-Marcuse, director of the Bill Holm Center; Peter Whiteley, curator at the American Museum of Natural History; and Paz Nuñez-Regueiro, curator at the Musée du Quai Branly – Jacques Chirac. These colleagues will address several topics of interest to museums, including the representation of the “other,” partnerships, and the issue of restitution—not only of objects but also of memory and the representation of Indigenous communities.

More details : quaibranly.fr