Title: Off the Mount: A Discussion on Activating Objects and Belongings
Event Date: Friday, March 21, 2025 at 11 a.m. (PT)
Event Location: Wherever your zoom-compatible device is located
Presenters: Heidi Swierenga and Karen Duffek
The Calls to Action issued by Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission have challenged museums to address the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) directive that Indigenous peoples have the right to maintain, control, protect and develop their cultural heritage. This talk will look at how First Nations regalia housed at MOA continues to express family-owned rights, how community members are choosing to activate their ancestral belongings at the site of the museum and outside its walls, and how museums and conservation are changing as a result. The experiences presented will also show how the conservation and curatorial disciples intersect to promote and support Indigenous-led initiatives and research at MOA.
H
eidi Swierenga is Senior Conservator and Head of the Collections Care, Management and Access Department at MOA. She is also an associate in the Department of Anthropology where she teaches conservation. Her practice and research focus on the use and activation of Indigenous belongings that are held in collections and the role that the conservation profession plays in facilitating these activities. She is also one of the instigators and Steering Committee member of the British Columbia Emergency Heritage Emergency Response Network (BCHERN), an organization that provides salvage training and resources to the galleries, museums and archives sector in BC.
Karen Duffek is the Curator of Contemporary Visual Arts and Pacific Northwest at MOA. Committed to supporting the activation of Northwest Coast Indigenous collections inside and outside the museum, she focuses her research, exhibitions, and publications on the relationships between historical and contemporary art practices, museum collections, communities, and art markets.
To view recordings of previous talks, please visit the Cotsen Youtube page
