National Gallery of Canada “Decimated” Says Leading Artist
AA Bronson (courtesy Twitter)
AA Bronson, one of this county's most esteemed senior artists, fell in love with the National Gallery of Canada as a child living in Ottawa. But, after working closely with the federal institution over the last several years to plan an exhibition, his affection has been sorely tested.
"Over the last year especially, the place has been decimated," the sole surviving member of the storied art collective General Idea said Tuesday in an email interview.
Bronson, 76, was commenting on news late last week that the gallery had dismissed four senior employees, including deputy director and chief curator Kitty Scott and senior Indigenous curator Greg Hill. This foursome is part of a group of two dozen or more experienced employees who have quit or been forced out in the last several years amid a massive restructuring. Meanwhile, a new batch of expensive bureaucrats charged with "decolonizing" and "Indigenizing" the gallery are on the ascendant, taking centre stage away from curators, who actually organize exhibitions, the gallery’s major interface with the public.
The last departures were ordered by Angela Cassie, who previously worked at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg. She has been serving as interim director since Sasha Suda departed for a new job in Philadelphia in July.
Bronson stepped into this environment a few years ago to help the gallery organize a massive retrospective that opened last June for General Idea, the pioneering, mischievous art trio that helped put Canada on the international art map starting in the 1970s and continuing through to the 1990s.
"As you know, I have been working very closely with the National Gallery for the past three or four years, but even then, its depths are sometimes impenetrable," the globe-trotting Bronson said. "I have never worked at a museum with such a dense political fog enveloping everyone and everything."
Despite that, Bronson said he was pleased with the General Idea exhibition. The gallery was "generous and responsive" to him.
"I went to high school in Ottawa in the early '60s and hung out at the National Gallery a lot…. It is because of the National Gallery that I had the courage to become an artist. And through my decades as an artist, I had always looked to the National Gallery as the ultimate example of a well-run, intelligent organization with the best possible people on staff."
But the place has changed greatly for the worse, in Bronson's estimation.
"A main issue that nobody seems to mention is that almost all of the senior positions are empty, especially the curatorial positions…. And it leaves the curatorial department in a very weakened position. In addition, the support positions of head of publishing and head of the Archives and Library are also empty."
Bronson is baffled by the Department of Indigenous Ways and Decolonization, which reports directly to the director of the gallery and seems to function parallel to the Indigenous curatorial branch.
Greg Hill, the fired Indigenous curator, also seems baffled.
"The truth is, I’m being fired because I don’t agree with and am deeply disturbed by the colonial and anti-Indigenous ways the Department of Indigenous Ways and Decolonization is being run," Hill said in an Instagram post.
That department is headed by two Indigenous bureaucrats with wide experience in the art world, Stephen Loft and Michelle LaVallee. Loft reports directly to the gallery director. Gallery documents show his job category pays between $149,066 and $212,306. Lavallee’s pay grade is between $105,129 and $149,729.
"So, this new department has a lot of power and, so far, seems to be mostly in the shadows," says Bronson. "Greg trusted them, and they fired him."
When Loft and LaVallee were appointed last February, Suda said they would work to deepen the gallery’s relationship with Indigenous communities, locally, nationally and internationally and "lead the work of decolonization and reconciliation through all the gallery does."
The interim director called a staff meeting Monday. "Many of the decisions made to deliver on our plan require us to embrace adding new ways of working, collecting, curating, and telling stories that show how much Canada’s cultural fabric has evolved as the diversity of voices shaping our artistic landscape grows," according to a text of the speech later sent to employees and obtained by Galleries West.
Heritage Minister Pablo Rodriguez has expressed "concern" over recent developments at the gallery but has given no indication he will interfere.
Rachael Thomas, the Conservative heritage critic, wants the government to become more involved at the National Gallery and at other national museums, such as the Canadian Museum of History and the Canadian War Museum, which have lacked directors for several years, creating a dispirited staff.
"So, while it is profoundly disappointing, it's not surprising the government is leaving many of Canada’s museums in a failing state," Thomas told Galleries West. "This seems to be their mode of operation. Canadian museums play an important role in preserving our heritage, advancing culture, and commemorating history. The heritage minister has a responsibility to ensure the right people are in place to lead these important organizations for the sake of the public good. I urge him to act."
