indigenous art toronto

Here are places you can find Indigenous art in and around Toronto

Indigenous art from First Nations, Inuit and Métis creators is all around Toronto if you know where to look.

Here are some places to find it.

McMichael Canadian Art Collection

This gallery 30 minutes north of the city in Kleinburg is known for its permanent collection of pieces by the Group of Seven, but it also holds a precious collection of both contemporary First Nations and Inuit art.

The museum has more than 100,000 works on loan from the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd., including art in all different formats using all types of materials.

As stated on its website, "First Nations art encompasses many forms – including the traditional arts, ceremonial or religious arts, utilitarian arts, art produced for the tourist market, as well as the contemporary or fine arts."

"McMichael continues to explore current trends and recent developments in First Nations art, and focuses its collecting activities on the contemporary."

The Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO)

The AGO has an extensive Indigenous Collection boasting thousands of sculptures, wall-hangings, drawings and other works from artists indigenous to North America, as well as to Africa and Australia.

Work by Manasie Akpaliapik, David Ruben Piqtoukun, Daphne Odjig, Shuvinai Ashoona, along with countless creators (both named an anonymous) is on display.

Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT)

This organization just north of Bloor and Spadina, along with providing programming specially catered to the city's Indigenous community, also has a collection of art on display and available for purchase.

Its Cedar Gift Basket Shop, which the NCCT says is the city's only Indigenous owned and operated store, has tons of handcrafted items, from jewellery to apparel to decor.

The Bata Shoe Museum

Among this footwear museum's thousands of shoes from all over the world and throughout human history are many pieces from North American Indigenous and circumpolar groups, along with a ton of information on the history of Indigenous shoemaking gleaned from fieldwork and focused research.

Trillium Park

Along with the Indigenous symbols and wayfinding that are built into Trillium Park, there is a special piece by Anishinaabe artist Keitha Keeshig-Tobias Biizindam living at the park through to the end of the month.

The mural, painted on the side of a shipping container, touches on the themes of returning culture, language, ceremonies and land to Canada's Indigenous communities.

The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM)

What could be better than a day spent exploring all of the knowledge and history available at the ROM, which has a designated space dedicated to First Peoples arts and culture?

The goal of the experimental exhibition is to "create a gallery that shares Indigenous lifeways, cultural expressions, and worldviews from our perspectives," as overseen by Indigenous museum professionals, knowledge holders, leaders, artists, and other community members.

You can find more than 1,000 objects in the Daphne Cockwell Gallery on level 1.

Toronto Inukshuk Park

This green space on Lake Shore Blvd. W. centres around a giant 30-foot-tall Inukshuk, a stone structure traditionally used by Inuit peoples as a landmark for travellers. The piece was created for World Youth Day in 2002 by Kellypalik Qimirpik, who hails from Cape Dorset, Nunavut.

Looking ahead, people can also look forward to the imagineNATIVE Film and Media Arts Festival, which is happening October 17 to 22, 2023.

Lead photo by

Art Gallery of Ontario


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