In fall 2023, the Gardiner Museum announced our largest capital project in 20 years—a $15.5-million campaign to transform the visitor experience, guided by the principles of connectivity, access, and Indigeneity. The full-scale reimagining of our ground floor features the construction of the Gardiner’s first-ever gallery of Indigenous ceramics, highlighting pottery traditions of the Woodland and Great Lakes region, where the Museum is situated.

Designed by architect Chris Cornelius (Oneida) of studio:indigenous and curated by the Gardiner’s inaugural Curator of Indigenous Ceramics, Franchesca Hebert-Spence (Anishinaabe Sagkeeng First Nation), the gallery will hold ceramic belongings and stories from time immemorial to the present day.

Cornelius shared the inspiration and intention behind his design:

“The piece is called yelákhwaˀ (container – “one uses it to be in”) in the Oneida language. As a Haudenosaunee designer, I am using language to connect the physical object with the land. My intention was to create a vessel that is part of the larger museum experience but also acts as a container to present the Indigenous ceramics within it. These belongings are not archaeological artifacts of the past but a continuation of Indigenous knowledge and expression. It is my goal to be a good future ancestor. The designed objects I create, including this one, express a contemporary culture grounded in a timeless worldview.

yelákhwaˀ consists of a wooden frame that takes the shape of the vessel, and a copper mesh skin that acts as feathers. The transparent mesh conforms to the shape of the vessel’s body while revealing the contents within. The vessel contains a view of the sky via a video projection that compresses 24 hours into 20 minutes, changing the visitor’s experience each time they enter the space.”

Franchesca Hebert-Spence offers insight into how she’s approaching the gallery.

What time periods and geographic areas do the belongings in the gallery come from?

Prior to my hiring, the Gardiner’s Indigenous Advisory Circle identified priorities for the Indigenous gallery, including that there should be representation of artists from the Great Lakes region, and that the works not be limited to a particular time period. These directives shaped the considerations during my hiring, as they lined up with my qualifications and interests, as well as the curatorial approaches I’ve taken on previous projects. As a result, the works that will be included in the gallery were created by makers from three communities: Manitoulin Island, Six Nations of the Grande River, and Curve Lake, with ancestral belongings from archaeological sites that have geographic proximity to the living communities today.^[1]

What ideas are guiding your curation of the gallery? What can visitors expect to experience?

Due to the breadth of ceramic production in the region and the number of Nations, there are many makers who haven’t been represented within museum or gallery spaces in Toronto.^[2] The first thing I wanted to challenge was the idea of an encyclopedic curatorial narrative, where each Nation or community has a single maker who represents them, largely because this falls into “great man theory,” which ultimately erases the work and contributions of makers who haven’t been included in the “mainstream Art” circuit.

Instead, I engaged with the making history of three communities with an effort to articulate the ways in which ceramic production is and has been continued through the efforts of artists and cultural centres, which differ from art galleries and museums. I also wanted the stories about the works to reflect the values of the makers as individuals, versus making selections based on my preconceived notions of what visual iconography should be present.

Visitors from the Manitoulin, Six Nations, or Curve Lake will recognize the work of folks who are present in their communities either running lessons or through the pow wow circuit. Visitors from Toronto will likely be introduced to makers who they aren’t familiar with but who worked in tandem with or learned from artists they might know, like Carl Beam or Elda (Bun) Smith.

Are there any belongings or artists you’re particularly excited to showcase?

So many stunning works will be included in the installation, but I’m excited to show these works called “bitties” by Darlene Smith, which are essentially miniature vessels. Smith’s “bitties” will be accompanied by vessels made by her sister-in-law, Cindy Henhawk, in her own style. Cindy’s daughter, Jessica Henhawk, made even smaller vessels using a hat pin, which are called “ittybitties.” I’m particularly excited to present these works because they’re charming, made with leftover clay scraps, and aren’t the kind of works that normally traverse into gallery spaces. From my perspective, they encapsulate a bit of the whimsy makers infuse in their works and share with one another. Those exchanges make art gallery and museum experiences more accessible and relatable to a wider audience.

How is the physical design of the gallery influencing your curation?

The works that will be included within yelákhwaˀ are largely community production, presented alongside information devoted to each maker and the unique history of making in each community. Other works will be included in long cases shared by the Ancestral Abiayala and Modern & Contemporary collections. These speak more to relationships around colonial legacy and how Indigenous artists fit within ceramic art history narratives. In a sense, Chris Cornelius’ intention of creating a vessel, and the resulting concepts of interior/exterior, apply to the different discourses that the works and their artists are having within and outside the structure.

^[1] Nations’ territories have shifted like any other for a multitude of reasons, and the time traversed for some works is 1,500 years.
^[2] Contemporary ceramic producers can often be found in gift shops, featured in community cultural centres, and/or teaching classes.

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Donate now to From the Ground Up and be part of the Gardiner’s future!

Our Supporters

The Gardiner’s Ground Floor Transformation was catalyzed by a $9-million gift from the Radlett Foundation, in honour of William B.G. Humphries. The Gardiner gratefully acknowledges Leadership Gifts from The Hilary and Galen Weston Foundation and the Lindy Green Family Foundation, and support from the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage’s Canada Cultural Spaces Fund.

The Gardiner Museum would also like to acknowledge the invaluable contributions of the Indigenous Advisory Circle in guiding this project—Mary Anne Barkhouse, Kent Monkman, Andre Morriseau, Duke Redbird, and Tekaronhiáhkhwa / Santee Smith—and welcome new members Bonnie Devine and Frank Shebageget.

Land Acknowledgement

The Gardiner Museum is situated on the ancestral and traditional territories of many nations, including the Anishnabeg, the Chippewa, the Haudenosaunee, and the Wendat peoples, and is covered by Treaty 13 with the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. It is now home to many diverse First Nations, Inuit, and Métis peoples. As a museum that celebrates the material of the Earth, the Gardiner is committed to honouring Indigenous peoples’ cultural and spiritual connections to the land. Indigenous self-determination is central to our work, and we strive to celebrate Indigenous knowledge and creativity through our collections, exhibitions, and programming.