Primary Colours: Preparing a New Generation

A recent gathering conducted by Primary Colours on Lekwungen Territory, Victoria, BC, gathered various artists; Indigenous artists, Black artists, artists of colour and artists of settler heritage to discuss shared histories of colonialism, race and convention in the arts. This gathering acted as a platform of investigation into exclusionary power dynamics, exploring the constructs of inclusivity, building collective memory and offering tools to those attending, who represented all generations of cultural leaders from diverse and marginalized communities locally, nationally and internationally. Explorations of privilege, abuse, control and ways to circumvent those hazards within institutionalized models served as tools handed from one generation of cultural leaders to the next.

Primary Colours is a major Canada-wide initiative taking form as a multidisciplinary series of actions. The actions, spanning from 2016 to 2018, place Indigenous art practices at the centre of the Canadian art system and assert that art practices by people of colour play critical roles within any system that imagines Canada’s potential futures.

The gathering hosted approximately 90 invited participants, in addition to many coordinators, technicians, curators and various partnering representatives including governmental and foundation representatives. The gathering engaged process-based methodology to explore contemporary issues raised by Black Lives