A Canadian Native mask against a white background.

Past Exhibition

Early Days: Indigenous Art from the McMichael

Early Days was organized by the McMichael Canadian Art Collection in collaboration with current Indigenous stakeholders—scholars, traditional knowledge keepers, and living artists—the exhibition includes both historical and contemporary art from coast-to-coast-to-coast. Showcasing the diversity and vitality of Indigenous art in Canada, Early Days features objects ranging from 18th-century ceremonial regalia to the work of the vanguard artists of the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s—such as Norval Morrisseau, Carl Beam and Alex Janvier— and leading contemporary Indigenous artists like Kent Monkman, Meryl McMaster and Rebecca Belmore. As the only museum in Canada devoted exclusively to Canadian art, the McMichael’s collection offers a definitive account of Indigenous art in Canada today, and the powerful tensions and continuities that exist between the present and the past. Early Days explores our relationship to the land, to our ancestors, and to each other.

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun (b.1957), New Climate Landscape (Northwest Coast Climate Change), 2019. Acrylic on canvas, 193 x 243.8 cm. 2020.10 Purchase 2020, BMO Financial Group. Image courtesy of Sarah Macaulay & Co. Fine Art

Gallery Views

  • A pair of moccasins with orange feathers on display and a white wall with text that says Early Days Indigenous Art from the McMichael Canadian Art Collection.
  • An art gallery with a number of framed paintings and a bench.
  • A gallery with framed photography on the walls and a platform with yellow high heel shoes in a circle.
  • A Canadian Native mask against a white background.

Our sponsors

  • Signature Sponsor

    Epcor logo on a blue background.
  • Sponsor

    Lili Chester, In Memory of Sheldon Chester
  • Additional Support

    Donors to the Grand Gallery Exhibition Fund