Name

The name Kiiwatin Oskapiywis was given to the research lab by Cree Elder Wilfred Buck. As he explains, Kiiwatin means North, with the root word being Kiiwi or home. Oskapis, meaning helper, assists us as we think about our role in our research. These words together can be translated as “helpers guiding the way home.” Through our work with Kiiwatin Oskapiywis Studio we, as researchers, take guidance from Wilfred Buck’s reflection on our work through Cree language. We are brought to consider our roles as helpers who are engaging in practices that acknowledge the complex entanglements of the local and global challenges of our time and that orient ourselves collectively towards more just futures.

About

Kiiwatin Oskapiywis Studio is a research-creation lab for the development, implementation, and sharing of arts-based research in support of pathways for ethical relationality within Indigenous territories. Our purpose is to centre Indigenous knowledge through practices and methodologies that include: the production of artwork, curated exhibitions, publications, and other related events. 

Values

Through our work we are guided by a set of shared values which include:

  • collaboration and exchange through a community of practice;

  • reciprocal mentorship;

  • accountability in our research;

  • a commitment to advancing research-creation and practice-based methods that help us to address the key issues of our time;

  • and the privileging of Indigenous thought in these activities.

  • Suzanne Morrissette (she/her)

    is an artist, curator, and scholar who is currently based our of Tkaronto and Winnipeg. Her father’s parents were Michif- and Cree- speaking Metis with family histories tied to the Interlake and Red River regions and Scrip in what is now Manitoba. Her mother’s parents came from Canadian-born farming families descended from United Empire Loyalists and Mennonites expelled from Russia. Morrissette was born and raised in Winnipeg and is a citizen of the Manitoba Metis Federation. Morrissette holds a PhD from York University in Social and Political Thought. She currently holds the position of Assistant Professor and Graduate Program Director in the School of Graduate Studies at OCAD University.

  • Courtney Miller (2021)

    Courtney Miller is an curator from the Fraser Valley, BC. She received a BFA from University of the Fraser Valley in 2014 and an MFA in Criticism and Curatorial Practice from CAD University in 2020, of which was supported by a SSHRC CGS-M grant. Her research interests include curatorial methods for Indigenous land-based art practices, re-mapping as an Indigenous resurgence strategy, and intersectional feminist textile art practices. Recent projects include co-curation with Valérie Frappier of a public art exhibition, Undercurrents, as part of The Bentway's Community Incubation Program (2019) in Toronto, ON. Miller currently holds the position of Manager and Curator at The ACT Arts Centre in Abbotsford, BC. Miller held the role of Research Assistant with Kiwatin Oskapiywis Studio.

  • Madeline Collins (2021)

    Madeline Collins (she/her) is a graduate student and research assistant at OCAD University, currently pursuing an MA in Contemporary Art, New Media, and Design Histories. She is passionate about art history, travelling, and social activism; as an academic and artist, she is interested in Black diasporic theory and queer-of-colour imaginaries. Collins held the role of Research Assistant with Kiwatin Oskapiywis Studio.

  • Erin Szikora (2021)

    Erin Szikora is an emerging curator of Cayuga, Scottish, and Hungarian ancestry. Born and raised in Guelph and currently based in Toronto, she holds a Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Visual Studies from the University of Toronto and a Master of Arts in Contemporary Art, Design, and New Media Art Histories from OCAD University. In 2022, she was awarded the Middlebrook Prize for Young Canadian Curators for her exhibition Homecoming and the Galeries Ontario Galleries Public Program Award for the project Mamanaw Pekiskwewina | Mother Tongues: Dish With One Spoon Territory, co-curated by Missy LeBlanc. Currently, she holds the position of Associate Curator, Exhibitions at The Robert McLaughlin Gallery. In 2021, Szikora held the role of Research Assistant at Kiiwatin Oskapiywis Studio.

  • Franchesca Hebert-Spence (2021)

    Franchesca Hebert-Spence is Anishinaabe and her grandmother Marion Ida Spence was from Sagkeeng First Nation, on Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hebert-Spence is an independent curator and writer whose engagement with her community is directly informed by kinship and it's responsibilities. The foundation for this practice sprung from Ishkabatens Waasa Gaa Inaabateg, Brandon University Visual and Aboriginal Arts program. She previously served as an Adiunct Curator, Indigenous Art at the Art Gallery of Alberta, and a Curatorial Assistant within the Indigenous Art Department at the National Gallery of Canada. She is a currently a PhD student in Cultural Mediations (Visual Culture) at Carleton University, and is a Fellow on the Morrisseau Project under Dr. Carmen Robertson. Hebert-Spence held the role of Research Assistant with Kiwatin Oskapiywis Studio.