Curator: Amin Alsaden
Presented by the Canada Council for the Arts
Looking the World in the Face honours the contributions of Indigenous and racialized artists to the visual culture of Canada. By focusing on faces, the exhibition demonstrates how historically marginalized communities defy the dominant gaze by telling their stories and disrupting stereotypes.
The varied works, all in the medium of photography, offer insight into the preoccupations, aspirations and worldviews of artists who represent themselves in unvarnished, critical and creative ways. The images transcend mere visibility or self-portrayal; they are acts of valiant resistance and generous affirmation by those who insist on being seen on their own terms.
The exhibition is grounded in two interrelated ideas. To see these depictions is to encounter the face of the global majority, with the world’s complexity and plurality reflected in Canada’s extraordinary diversity. Conversely, the artists challenge Canada—and the world—to look itself in the face.
The exhibition includes works of art by Cécilia Bracmort, Sunil Gupta, Jérôme Havre, Duane Isaac, Pedro Isztin, Kablusiak, Sanaz Mazinani, Meryl McMaster, Shelley Niro, Louise Noguchi, Julie Oh, Abdi Osman, Arthur Renwick and Jeff Thomas.
Looking the World in the Face is presented in partnership with the Canada Council for the Arts. The artwork is drawn from the Canada Council Art Bank, the world’s largest collection of contemporary Canadian art, with over 17,000 works by 3,000 artists. The exhibition was first mounted in 2022 in the Âjagemô Exhibition Space, in Ottawa, in celebration of the Art Bank’s 50th anniversary. As Canada’s public arts funder, the Canada Council fosters and promotes the arts through grants, services and strategic investments that support creativity and artistic expression.
Image credit: Work of art: Cécilia Bracmort, Peau nature morte, sans titre III, 2020. Photo: Cécilia Bracmort. Collection of the Canada Council Art Bank