Wanda Nanibush on the Anishinaabe Walker Court

Authors

  • Wanda Nanibush University of Toronto & CUNY

Abstract

Wanda Nanibush analyses Robert Houle’s 1993 installation as a contribution toward decolonizing the Art Gallery of Ontario.

Author Biography

Wanda Nanibush, University of Toronto & CUNY

Wanda Nanibush is an Anishinaabe-kwe image and word warrior, curator and community organizer from Beausoleil First Nation. Currently, she is the Helen Frankenthaler Visiting Professor in Curating in the Ph.D. Program in Art History at CUNY. She is also teaching in the Masters of Visual Studies program at the University of Toronto,  and part of the curatorial team for Counterpublic 2026, St.Louis’ Triennial. She is also the Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor, University of Toronto, 2025/6. 


Nanibush is the founding director of aabaakwad, an international yearly gathering of over 80 Indigenous curators, writers, and artists for talks and performances. She won the 2023 Toronto Book Award for her co-authored book Moving the Museum which chronicles some of her groundbreaking work at the Art Gallery of Ontario as the Inaugural curator of Indigenous Art. She has curated survey, group, and retrospective exhibitions including: Robert Houle, Red is Beautiful; Rebecca Belmore, Facing the Monumental; and Toronto: Tributes + Tributaries, 1971 - 1989l.

She received her M.A. in Visual Studies from University of Toronto. She is Adjunct Faculty at York University. Nanibush has published widely on Indigenous art, politics, history, feminism and sexuality.

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Published

2026-05-31

Issue

Vol. 2026 No. 1 (2026): The Order of Canada

Section

Articles

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Wanda Nanibush

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