Critical Indigenous Fish Philosophy

In May 2023, I participated in the Institution of Knowledge exhibit at the FAB Gallery at the University of Alberta. I created a series of artworks that respond to, engage with, three creatures that the person I knew as my step-dad for 27 years, Wayne Emerson Roberts, collected in central Alberta throughout his career as a curator at the University of Alberta’s Museum of Zoology. A 19 minute video of my travels, and places I have lived and visited, in the 5 years since Wayne’s passing was looped behind the creatures and my drawings.

Gratitude to Natalie Loveless and Geoffrey Rockwell for curating the exhibit; to April Dean for facilitating my contact with the curators of the ichthylogy, amphibian, and mammalian collections at the University of Alberta; and to Alison Murray, Michael Caldwell, and Andrew Derocher for allowing the three creatures/beings to be momentarily transferred to FAB Gallery for the exhibit.

Below are images of the installation.

This work was facilitated by funding from KIAS which hosted the exhibit, and also by my CRC (Tier 2) in Indigenous Governance and Freshwater Fish Futures.