Kent Monkman (left) receives his Indspire Arts Award alongside Marion Meadmore (Indspire Law & Justice winner, centre) and Mary Spencer (Indspire Sports winner, right).
Kent Monkman—the contemporary artist of Cree ancestry whose paintings, installations and films often reframe historical depictions of First Nations people in witty, risqué and unexpected ways—has received an Indspire Award.
The awards from Indspire, formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation, have celebrated the significant contributions of Indigenous people in Canada for 21 years.
Monkman was honoured in this year’s Arts category. Other winners included Robert Watts, former CEO for the Assembly of First Nations (recognized in the Public Service category), and James Eetoolook, who was very involved in the negotiation of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement and is currently chair of the Inuit Wildlife and Environment Council (recognized in the Lifetime Achievement category).
Monkman’s work is currently featured in the exhibition “Beat Nation: Art, Hip Hop and Contemporary Culture” on at the Dalhousie Art Gallery and Saint Mary’s University Art Gallery in Halifax until May 18. It is also being exhibited in “Welcome to the Studio” at the McCord Museum in Montreal until June 1.
During his career to date, Monkman’s work has been seen at the Berlin International Film Festival, the Toronto International Film Festival, the National Gallery of Canada, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian, among other venues.
In the coming months, Monkman will be exhibiting at the Musee departemental d’art contemporain de Rochechouart in France, the SITE Santa Fe Biennial, and Sargent’s Daughters in New York City (the latter exhibition being open during Frieze New York week).
Though the Indspire Awards ceremony took place on March 21 in Winnipeg, they will be rebroadcast nationwide on Global on May 9 at 7:30 p.m. and on APTN on May 10 at 8 p.m.
