Free public lectures with Dr Carmen Robertson and Armand Garnet Ruffo, with reception to follow.

Entanglements and Teachings in the Art of Norval Morrisseau
Dr Carmen Robertson

To study the art of Norval Morrisseau is to become entangled in several complicatedly intertwisted narrative threads. Dr Robertson leads the Morrisseau Project: 1955–1985 research team working to build a database of his art and archival sources, design an online digital storylines project, and publish a book on his art and life from this period. Following the interconnected lines of inquiry his artworks posit, Robertson interrogates some of the complex teachings that Anishinaabe artist Norval Morrisseau’s visual storytelling language quietly offers twenty-first century audiences.

The Legacy of Norval Morrisseau
Armand Garnet Ruffo

Armand Ruffo is currently working with Brown Bag Productions on an episode of a children’s animation series called Xavier Riddle. The segment features Norval Morrisseau, as the central characters travel through time to meet him. During this talk, Ruffo shares a short clip from the episode and talks about the themes that the animation emphasizes for children, namely kinship, the environment and conservation in relation to Anishinaabe ways of being and knowing. To complement his talk, Ruffo draws from his acclaimed texts Norval Morrisseau: Man Changing Into Thunderbird and The Thunderbird Poems.

Supported by the Frances K Smith Fund.