Mandate title

Indigenous Land Restitution Research-Creation Fellow

Posting period

July-September 2023

Beginning of mandate

October 2023

End of mandate

October 2024

Strengthened by its extensive Collection (archives, prints & drawings, photography and new media, library holdings) and based on its exhibitions, programs, and research opportunities, the Canadian Centre for Architecture (CCA) is a leading voice in advancing knowledge, promoting public understanding, and widening the debate on architecture, its history, theory, practice, and role in society today.

The Canadian Centre for Architecture is a settler institution that researches and promotes architecture, a practice that is inextricably tied to site, territory and land. Situated in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal, which is located on the territory of the Kanien’kehá:ka (Mohawk) people, the CCA is currently working on a living land acknowledgement project to foster positive relationships based on equity, accessibility and inclusion with Indigenous communities across Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montreal and to implement a series of initiatives that will provide support and resources to Indigenous architects, designers, curators, artists and researchers.

The CCA, with its staff members, formed a cross-division land acknowledgement working group (LAWG) in 2021 dedicated to the Land Acknowledgement project. In this endeavor, the CCA is currently working with an external consultant, Lori Tarbell, Executive Director of the Onen’tó:kon Healing Lodge in Kanehsatà:ke. In the long-term, the CCA is committed to an open-ended process in creating a living land acknowledgement that will provide support and resources to Indigenous communities and researchers.

The Indigenous Research fellowship welcomes Indigenous researchers working on land restitution around Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal to further the CCA’s land acknowledgement process. The inaugural research fellow was Tsi Tkarón:to (Toronto)-based multidisciplinary performance artist Ange Loft, of Kahnawà:ke Kanien’kehá:ka Territory, who created an installation at CCA entitled Visibly Iroquoian, accompanied by a series of public programs. The biennial fellowship is now open for applicants for 2023-24, and a third and final iteration will be launched in 2025.

The Indigenous Research-creation Fellow will collaborate with the Land Acknowledgement Working Group for a period of one (1) year from October 2023 to October 2024. The fellow will work on a research-creation project that tackles issues of decolonization and land restitution focusing on the history of the territory of the CCA’s site and its surroundings in the Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal area. The final format of the research-creation project can take various forms, and it will be determined through conversations between the fellow and the Land Acknowledgement Working Group and other curatorial teams at CCA. The final format of the research-creation project should contribute to future research as part of the CCA’s land acknowledgement project. The final outcome may be an installation, an object, a series of workshops, a text, a performance, to be ultimately presented in some forms on the CCA website and through a public presentation. The research-creation fellow will also have the support of other divisions at the CCA aligning with their project (e.g., Publications, Public Programs, Exhibitions, etc.).

The research-creation fellow will work in collaboration with the Land Acknowledgement Working Group as well as other members of the CCA curatorial teams (Collection, Programs, Research, Publications and Digital and Outreach). The fellow will undertake research in the CCA Collection or at other private or public collections and archives, related to the history of the territory of the CCA’s site and its surroundings in the Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal area. The research materials produced will be shared with the LAWG and other CCA teams, and potentially to CCA collaborators and to the public, in the context of a launch event to share the research.

• The research-creation fellow will receive a total amount of CAN $ 8,500.
• The CCA will cover travel expenses to the CCA.
• If there were to be production costs related to the Research-creation project, these costs will be covered by the CCA within the limits of its budget.

Please submit your application (resume and project proposal, in English or French) by e-mail to lawg@cca.qc.ca, to the attention of the Land Acknowledgement Working Group of the Canadian Centre for Architecture, 1920, rue Baile, Montréal (Québec) H3H 2S6. The deadline for submissions is 15 September 2023.

The PDF version is also available.

This program is generously supported by the CCA and National Bank.

The diversity of our institution is at the core of our creativity and strengthens our research efforts. While all qualified candidates are invited to apply, we particularly welcome applications from persons with disabilities, Indigenous, Black, and other people of colour, of all genders, and LGBTQ+ persons. Candidates are encouraged to self-identify in their application (CV or cover letter). Applicants who require accommodations for any part of the application process can contact vsamson@cca.qc.ca to receive confidential assistance.