Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) needs to be boycotted for succumbing to Anti-Palestinian Racism and pressure Israel Museums & Arts, Canada (IMAAC) in forcing out Wanda Nanibush, the inaugural curator of Indigenous Art at the AGO.
Nanibush’s sudden departure in Nov 2023 followed a leaked letter from Oct 16, 2023 from IMAAC leadership (and signed by Sara Angel of Art Canada Institute) to AGO’s director and CEO Stephan Jost. The letter addresses Nanibush’s support for Palestine as “hateful opinions” and her “peddling [of] these lies since 2016” when Nanibush wrote a feature article for Canadian Art magazine linking the Palestinian cause to the experience of Indigenous peoples in Canada. AGO has denied the allegation that Nanibush was ousted because of complaints from IMAAC and pressure from AGO’s donors and trustees. But the terms of Nanibush’s departure from AGO have prevented her from speaking on the matter and clarify the circumstances under which she was pushed out. Leading some groups, like the Indigenous Curatorial Collective, to make their demands public and Let Wanda Speak to share her side of the story. The letter ask AGO to
“release Ms. Nanibush from any legal obligations preventing her from speaking publicly about her tenure and dismissal, about how she sees what happened and why.”
It should also be noted that another indigenous curator and artist, Taqralik Partridge, resigned from her position at the AGO a month after Nanibush’s departure. Partridge, an Inuk-Scottish multidisciplinary artist, joined AGO’s curatorial team as the Associate Curator of Indigenous Art – Inuit Art Focus in 2022.
AGO has also used trans people to launder its public image. In their Casa Susanna exhibit, AGO uses photographs of trans people without their consent to bolster its image as “progressive” institution.
