The intent with this exhibition is to highlight the fluidity of Indigenous knowledge and time, and the constraints imposed upon this understanding by Western structures of chronology and record. Utilizing the image of the Hochelaga Rock, the commemorative stone for the village and people encountered by Jacques Cartier in 1535 that sits at McGill campus in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal, Claus wishes to interrupt its solidity to express the dislocation in time, space and understanding between Western and Indigenous worldviews. This new body of work repositions the interplay of the stone marker, its plaque and the plaque’s text, to make room for other voices, hoping to unsettle colonial truths and question what we know and how we remember.

The artist would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Conseil des arts de Montréal, Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and Milieux Institute at Concordia University.

Hannah Claus is a visual artist of English and Kanien'kehà:ka / Mohawk ancestries. She graduated from the Ontario College of Art and Design in 1997 and obtained her MFA from Concordia University in 2004. Her installations have been exhibited throughout Canada and  the United States, as well as in Germany, Switzerland, Mexico and Chile. Her work is included in various public collections, such as the Canada Council Art Bank, the City of Montreal and the Department of Global Affairs Canada. Upcoming exhibitions include the group exhibition, Insurgence/Resurgence at the Winnipeg Art Gallery, and solo exhibitions at the artist-run centres Artspace (Peterborough, Ontario) and Centre M.A.I. (Montreal) in 2018. Hannah lives and works in Tiohtià:ke / Montreal, Quebec.

Exhibitions  

Participating Artists: Hannah Claus (Montréal)
Curator(s):
Credits: Hannah Claus, hochelaga rock, 2017 (détail).