Understanding Aboriginal Arts in Canada Today: A Review of Knowledge and Literature (Canada Council for the Arts)

This knowledge and literature review examines a broad range of material on Aboriginal arts in Canada. Recognizing the importance of oral traditions in Aboriginal knowledge transfer, it also includes information gathered through one-on-one interviews with six senior Aboriginal artists. The following topics are covered:

Aboriginal worldview
Canada’s colonial history
Aboriginal knowledge
Western art lens
Recent history of Aboriginal arts
Aboriginal arts in communities
Aboriginal artists and their art
The future of Aboriginal arts

The study is a component of the Aboriginal Arts Research Initiative (AARI), which aims to better understand the specificities of Aboriginal art practices, explore the impact of the arts within Aboriginal communities, investigate the impact of Aboriginal arts in Canada and internationally, and generate interest in research related to Aboriginal arts among other partners, both at national and provincial levels.

Comprendre les arts autochtones au Canada aujourd’hui : analyse de la connaissance et de la documentation (Conseil des arts du Canada)

Cette analyse de la connaissance et de la documentation examine une vaste gamme de documents portant sur les arts autochtones au Canada. Reconnaissant l’importance des traditions orales dans le transfert des connaissances chez les Autochtones, l’analyse inclut également l’information recueillie lors d’entretiens en personne avec six artistes autochtones aînés. Les sujets abordés sont les suivants :

Vision du monde autochtone
Histoire coloniale du Canada
Savoirs autochtones
Prisme de l’art occidental
Histoire récente des arts autochtones
Arts autochtones dans les communautés
Artistes autochtones et leur art
Avenir des arts autochtones

Cette étude est une composante de l’Initiative de recherche sur les arts autochtones (IRAA), qui vise à mieux comprendre les particularités des pratiques artistiques autochtones, explorer l’impact des arts au sein des communautés autochtones, analyser l’impact des arts autochtones au Canada et à l’échelle internationale et susciter l’intérêt pour la recherche liée aux arts autochtones chez d’autres partenaires, à l’échelle nationale et provinciale.

1 January 2014

Caring for Video Art: Best Practices Guide (Vtape) 3

This guide was developed by Vtape as a tool for organizations to develop best practices that will assist in documentation and inventory, the creation of suitable storage environments, as well as the handling and maintenance of their video art. The techniques and processes discussed in this guide are for video works created and found on magnetic videotape formats such as ½˝ open-reel, ¾˝ Umatic, VHS, Betacam SP, MiniDV and Digital Betacam.
3 October 2017

Contract Templates for Artists (CQAM) 3

The Conseil québécois en arts médiatiques (CQAM), in collaboration with consultant Georges Azzaria and a committee of artists in digital arts, have developed a series of contract templates for use by the media arts community.
18 December 2018

Think Before You Appropriate: A guide for creators and designers 1

People and cultures have always exchanged and borrowed ideas from each other to create new forms of art and symbolic expression. Whether intentionally or not, most if not all human creations reflect varied sources of inspiration. Why, then, are some products negatively labelled “cultural appropriation” or their creators accused of disrespecting the very cultures they found inspiring? And why do products inspired from Indigenous cultural heritage seem to spark particularly strong reactions and pushback? This guide, developed by The Intellectual Property Issues in Cultural Heritage (IPinCH), unpacks these important questions. It provides advice to designers and marketers on why and how to avoid misappropriation, and underlines the mutual benefits of responsible collaborations with Indigenous artists and communities.