Indigenous people from Turtle Island express and assert their identity in conversation with their cultural roots in a multitude of ways, and always in tandem with ever-looming colonialism. Forward Facing examines intersectionality within Indigenous identity through the photographic, video, craft, and installation practices of Dayna Danger, Lacie Burning, and Jade Nasogaluak Carpenter. Utilizing the device of the mask, the exhibition provokes and questions how the face—or the absence of it—creates a powerful commentary on contemporary Indigenous culture: Carpenter uses a bed sheet as a full body disguise, Burning creates a mask made of mirror and light, and Danger’s head coverings of leather and beads recall BDSM masks. Despite the artists’ diverse practices and vastly different use of materiality, Forward Facing illustrates how masks function as signifiers of solidarity and safety for their respective communities.

Forward Facing is curated by Cass Gardiner and produced by Critical Distance Centre for Curators (CDCC) in partnership with Aboriginal Curatorial Collective / Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ACC/ CCA). The exhibition will occupy CDCC’s third floor gallery at Artscape Youngplace as well as the billboard on Shaw and additional sites outside and within the building.