Wanuskewin welcomed highly-regarded artist Bonnie Devine and her work La Rábida, Soul of Conquest: an Anishinaabe encounter to Wanuskewin Galleries. The exhibition, organized by the Art Gallery of Peterborough and curated by Fynn Leitch began to run from July 11, 2019 and will continue to October 4, 2019 at the National Historic Site.

There was an opening reception and artist talk on July 11th at Wanuskewin where both Devine and Leitch were in attendance to present the works.

La Rábida is a Franciscan monastery near the small town of Palos de la Frontera, on the Atlantic coast of Spain. Christopher Columbus set sail from here in 1492, confident that he would find a new route to Asia. Using texts and images from European and Indigenous sources, Devine explores this past and questions the enduring impact of the Columbus landing. The exhibition features painting, drawing, video, sculpture and an original commissioned choral work by David DeLeary based on the Latin text of the 1493 Papal Bull – Inter Caetera – the Doctrine of Discovery.

Devine is a member of the Serpent River First Nation, Genaabaajing, an Anishinaabe Ojibwa territory on the north shore of Lake Huron. Devine is an artist, curator, writer and educator. Though formally educated at the Ontario College of Art and Design and York University, her most enduring learning came from her grandparents, who were trappers on the Canadian Shield. Devine’s installation, video and curatorial projects have been shown across Canada and the United States, South America, Russia, Europe and China, including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Berlin Film Festival and the National Museum of the American Indian.

Wanuskewin is proud to have Devine and her work to the prairies, and to Saskatoon.