In early June, McMaster Museum of Art welcomed journalist Graham Rockingham to the museum for a tour of NIIPA 20/20 and interview with M(M)A Curator of Indigenous Art, Rhéanne Chartrand.

Shortly after, Rockingham published the interview in a Hamilton Spectator article titled Unveiling 20 years of Indigenous photographic art.

He describes the show, “An ambitious new exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art, “NIIPA 20/20” chronicles the group’s 20-year history, featuring more than 160 photos by 50 NIIPA alumni artists from Canada and the United States. Many of the artists reached national and international recognition, including Shelley Niro, Jeff Thomas, Murray McKenzie, Jolene Rickard, and Simon Brascoupe.”

The article goes on to discuss the establishment of NIIPA and its role as a “national networking tool for Indigenous artists, offering materials, training and encouragement, as well as gallery space and touring exhibitions”.

Rockingham also includes an interview with NIIPA’s founding co-director Yvonne Maracle, who has been managing the NIIPA archive and introduced many of the photos in the exhibition to Chartrand. “I’m so glad that I ran into Rhéanne and she was able to take this load off of me,” Maracle said. “She’s a great saviour and the NIIPA images live on. It is history, Indigenous history, our history.”

The story was printed in the June 9 edition of the Hamilton Spectator, Arts & Life section. To read the online article, click here.