(Un)Mapping the Territory: An Indigenous Artist/Research Residency

Hart House and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto are inviting expressions of interest (EOI) for a year-long residency at Hart House. The residency invites artists and researchers to consider and uncover histories of place, geographies, borders, and cartographies present on the land that the University of Toronto campus occupies from an Indigenous perspective.

The proposed residency (Un)Mapping the Territory responds to the colonial histories of the University of Toronto as represented in a painted map of the campus by A. Scott Carter, commissioned by Vincent Massey in 1937. The map resided in a room, referred to as the Map Room, at Hart House for many years. In consultation with Toronto-based Indigenous artists and arts professionals, the idea for a residency emerged that would centre on living ideas of mapping or (un)mapping with an emphasis on supporting relation-building processes. The residency has the potential to be an essential, deeply needed, and transformative program of place-making and redress of territory on the U of T community. Informed by the knowledge sharing of the Indigenous Arts Advisory, the residency provides the opportunity to create (healing) histories, and potentially forging Indigenous ways of being in relation with the land that can become accessible and present for everyone.

Conceived in the context of the ongoing work mapped by the Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Hart House and the Art Museum are inviting Indigenous artists, researchers, and/or cultural workers to submit an Expression of Interest to undertake a one-year engagement with the campus, to consider the potential of (un)mapping. The residency will offer an opportunity to engage in research, followed by financially supported programming, as well as potential project initiatives that may encompass performance, site-related manifestations, walking tours, intervention, and/or exhibition. Artists, collectives, or partnerships are welcome.

Deadline for Submission of Expression of Interest: September 15, 2024

Details on how to submit expressions of interest are on the Art Museum at U of T website.

For more information and inquiries: [email protected]

Produced by Hart House and the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.