From growing up in Sandy Bay First Nation / Kaa-wii-kwe-tawang-kak and attending residential school to pursuing extensive academic studies and becoming an internationally recognized artist, Robert Houle (b.1947) has spent four decades reconciling and synthesizing contemporary art trends and Anishnabe traditions. His work uses personal and cultural memory to expose the blind spots in official history as he seeks to decolonize the museum and the self. For more on Robert Houle read Shirley Madill’s Robert Houle: Life & Work.
Shirley Madill is executive director of the Kitchener-Waterloo Art Gallery. Prior she was director/curator, Rodman Hall Art Centre; CEO, Art Gallery of Greater Victoria; chief curator/director of programming and vice-president, Art Gallery of Hamilton; and curator of contemporary art and photography, Winnipeg Art Gallery.