By Lara Fominoff @fomsy1 on Twitter

Sticker shock: Southern Alberta Art Gallery says “Colonialism 150” display meant to provoke thought and discussion

Jun 21, 2017 | 11:32 AM

LETHBRIDGE – Wandering past the Southern Alberta Art Gallery, you’ll see a number of stickers plastered to the front doors, but one in particular might make passersby look more than once.
 
At first glance, it looks like the “Canada 150” celebration sticker, but instead, the maple leaf is turned upside down, and reads “Colonialism 150.”
 
The sticker was created by Toronto activist/artist/ researcher/educator Eric Ritskes, who is a 6th year PhD candidate in Sociology and Equity Studies in Education at the University of Toronto, according to his website.
 
Ritskes has also created T-shirts and sweaters with the same upside down maple leaf, which SAAG also orders in upon request. The gallery does not make money from the sale of the shirts or stickers.
Money from the sale of the shirts and stickers goes to the Onaman Collective’s Indigenous Tattoo Gathering.
 
In his most recent blog, Ritskes wrote about the Canada 150 Celebrations:
 
“It is not only a project of profound Whiteness (and antiblackness), it is also a settler colonial project. Canada is an ongoing project of violence that seeks to subdue and destroy Indigenous peoples, cultures, and lands. To celebrate Canada is to celebrate colonial conquest, settlement, and the attendant violence necessary to secure the nation’s ongoing legitimatization and normalization.”

SAAG Communications Coordinator, Nicole Hembroff says they have had controversial displays many times, and it’s their job to provoke meaningful conversations.

“There has been a lot of discussion about how art is meant to open up conversation and that sometimes it can be controversial. There’s been conversation about… recognizing that colonialism was a part of how the nation was formed, and that indigenous people were marginalized as a part of that.”
 
Lethbridge Mayor Chris Spearman has tweeted his support of the gallery and Hembroff adds that it’s also important to acknowledge Blackfoot territory.
 
She says it’s their small part in showing their support for First Nations.  But she does acknowledge there are those who find the sticker offensive as well.
 
“Art is so subjective, and that’s what makes it great. You know, we never really know what is going to pique someone’s curiosity; whether it’s going to make them feel upset, or it’s going to perhaps trigger something from their past, or whether it’s going to bring them really great joy.”
 
She adds though, that SAAG will also be participating in Canada150 Celebrations.
 
 “We will be doing things on Canada Day, we’re going to be doing something on the 15th where we’ll be open and free for the public.”
 
For more information on Eric Ritskes, go to http://www.ericritskes.com/#top.