Dibaajimowin Panelists

Heather George

Heather George is a mother, gardener, beader, curator and PhD Candidate of Euro-Canadian and Kanien'kehá:ka descent. Heather’s home community is Akwesasne, most of her professional career has been spent working in Six Nations of the Grand River. Much of Heather's personal and professional work has been directed at gaining a better understanding of the culture and history of her nation. Her thesis work examines the historical and philosophical underpinnings of contemporary museum practices across Haudenosaunee communities. Heather’s curatorial practice combines historical documents, storytelling, material culture and contemporary art with the understanding that there is no one way to tell a story, she seeks to connect with audiences through a wide variety of engaging, immersive and gently disruptive approaches. Heather is currently working as a Guest Curator at Woodland Cultural Centre and is a board member of the Canadian Museums Association. 

Sally Frater

Sally Frater holds an Honours BA in Studio Art from the University of Guelph and an MA in Contemporary Art from The University of Manchester/Sotheby's Institute of Art. The daughter of immigrants from the Caribbean, curatorially she is interested in decolonization, space and place, Black and Caribbean diasporas, photography, art of the everyday, and issues of equity and representation in museological spaces. She has curated solo and group exhibitions for institutions such as the Art Gallery of Guelph, the Ulrich Museum of Art, the McColl Center for Art and Innovation, Glassell School of Art at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Justina M. Barnicke Gallery at the University of Toronto, Project Row Houses, and Centre[3] for Artistic and Social Practice. A former resident in the Core Critical Studies fellowship at the Glassell School at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Frater has also completed fellowships and residencies at the UT Dallas Centraltrak, Southern Methodist University, Project Row Houses and Art21. The recipient of grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts she is a member of the Association of Art Museum Curators and is an alumna of Independent Curators International. Frater is curator of contemporary art at the Art Gallery of Guelph and recently was the co-director of Artistic Programs at Emerging Curators Institute.

Armando Perla

Armando Perla (They/them, He/him) is a queer mestizo independent curator and museum consultant of Nahua and European descent working in Canada and abroad. Previously, they were the Chief Curator for the Toronto History Museums at the City of Toronto. Perla is Vice-President at the board of the Canadian Museums Association and was a board member of the International Council of Museums’ (ICOM) International Committee on Ethical Dilemmas (IC-Ethics) from 2019 – 2022.  Between 2021 and 2022, they curated a major children’s exhibition on historic memory and human rights for the United Nations Development Program and the Swiss Agency for International Cooperation in Central America in El Salvador. Perla also held the position of Assistant Professor on Decolonization and Race in Museums with the Master of Museum Studies, Faculty of Information at the University of Toronto and also served as International Advisor on Museums, Human Rights and Social Inclusion for the City of Medellin, Colombia. They were part of the founding team of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights and Project Leader at the Swedish Museum of Migration and Democracy. During his tenure at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights they were also an adjunct professor both at the faculty of law at the University of Manitoba and in the Global College at the University of Winnipeg. They hold a Bachelor of Laws from l'Université Laval in Canada and a Master of Laws in International Human Rights Law from Lund University and the Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden. Prior to working in the museum sector, Perla held several roles in human rights organizations in North America, Latin America, and Europe. Perla is currently pursuing his doctoral studies in Art History and Museology at the University of Montreal and in 2021 they were awarded the Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Fellowship for his research. 

Dr. Kirsty Robertson

Dr. Kirsty Robertson is Professor of Contemporary Art and Director of Museum and Curatorial Studies at Western University where she also directs the Centre for Sustainable Curating. Robertson has published widely on activism, visual culture and museums culminating in her book Tear Gas Epiphanies: Protest, Museums, Culture (McGill-Queen’s University Press, May 2019). Her new work focuses on small and micro- collections that repurpose traditional museum formats for critical and politically radical projects. In addition, Robertson is a founding member of the Synthetic Collective, a group of artists, scientists and cultural researchers working on plastics pollution in the Great Lakes Region and project co-lead on A Museum for Future Fossils, an ongoing “vernacular museum” that responds curatorially to ecological crisis.

Fitsum Areguy

Fitsum Areguy (he/him) is a scholar-activist and writer who focuses on identity, state violence, and public health issues. His graduate research explores how Black and Indigenous youth resist colonialism and conquest through storytelling, place-making, and relational practices. Fitsum's writing has been featured in publications such as The Breach Media, Canadian Dimension, Briarpatch Magazine, New Sociology, and Korea Exposé. He co-founded Textile, a literary magazine and community arts collective that supports and showcases artists and writers living on the Haldimand Tract (Waterloo Region) through mentorship, publication, and curation.

Bangishimo Johnston

Bangishimo (They/Them) is an IndigiQueer Anishinaabe originally from Couchiching First Nation located on Treaty #3 territory. They currently reside in so-called Kitchener located along the Grand River. Bangishimo is a community organizer, educator, and advocate. They are one of the co-founders of O:se Kenhionhata:tie, also known as Land Back Camp. ​

Their advocacy and photography has allowed them to visit over sixteen countries; taking photos and sharing the stories of those they meet along the way. Bangishimo's work has been featured in numerous publications and has had their work on display across Canada. Most recently, Bangishimo won the Briarpatch Writing in the Margins Contest 2020, voted Best Photographer 2021/22 in the Community Edition, and recipient of the Waterloo Region Arts Award 2022. Bangishimo is the 2022/2023 Artist-in-Residence for the City of Kitchener. 

Emma Rain Smith

Emma (she/they) is Anishinaabe from Bkejwanong- Walpole Island First Nation. She graduated in Fine Arts from the University of Waterloo in 2018 and is currently a Masters student at the University of Waterloo working in Indigenous History. Their research is focused on the advancements of Indigenous beadwork during the Fur Trade. Emma’s artistic practice revolves around contemporary Indigenous practices of beadwork and is influenced by the relationship of oral storytelling and the physicality of wearable art in Indigenous cultures. She is particularly interested in material history and the role of art as history telling.

Amy Smoke

Amy Smoke (they/them) is Mohawk Nation, Turtle Clan from the Six Nations of the Grand River. They are a Two Spirit, IndigiQueer parent, land defender/water protector, community organizer, and public speaker. Amy has won several awards in the fields of Social Justice and Community Leadership and they are one of the co-founders of O:se Kenhionhata:tie Land Back Camp; a space for Two Spirit, IndigiQueer, trans, non- binary youth and settler allies in the LGBTQ+ community. Amy is also a sessional instructor at the University of Waterloo, Renison University College, in the Bachelor of Social Work program.