杏吧原创

As the mishomis (grandfather) of an artistic movement within Indigenous contemporary art, Norval Morrisseau鈥檚 radical innovations and powerful visual vocabulary have had a profound influence on subsequent generations of artists. The Morrisseau Project 1955-1985 (funded by ) aims to create a more comprehensive narrative of Morrisseau’s life and work during these formative decades by creating and hosting:

• the interactive website
• the art exhibition and gathering
• an in-depth research database of Morrisseau鈥檚 art and archival materials
• varied public screenings and on Morrisseau
• and a comprehensive illustrated book on Morrisseau鈥檚 life and art (forthcoming 2025).聽

Our team of curators and researchers, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, from major institutions and beyond, are collaboratively documenting how Morrisseau or Miskwabik Animiiki (Copper Thunderbird) painted, where he made art, the materials he used, his connections with communities, patrons and collectors, and his work in other media.

Morrisseau’s work engages spiritual, political, and sexual subject matter, and demands our engagement within both Anishinaabe and mainstream art contexts.聽

The identification of the numerous people Morrisseau brought into his life as mentors, friends, and patrons is a vital aspect of the project and one that urgently requires study if living memory is to be preserved. We are working with people who bring a range of perspectives and who can address the artist’s life and art by drawing on different kinds of evidence: including collections documentation, Morrisseau’s sizeable correspondence and writings, and the personal stories of those who knew him.聽