Mandate title

Indigenous Land Restitution Research-Creation Fellow

Posting period

September–November 2025

Beginning of mandate

January 2026

End of mandate

December 2026

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 CCA 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.

The CCA, with its staff members, formed a cross-division land acknowledgement working group (LAWG) in 2021 dedicated to the Land Acknowledgement project. In the long-term, the CCA is committed to an open-ended process in creating a living land acknowledgement and to implement a series of initiatives that will provide support and resources to Indigenous architects, designers, curators, artists and researchers.

The Indigenous Research fellowship welcomes Indigenous researchers and/or artists working on land restitution around Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyang/Montréal to further the CCA’s land acknowledgement process. The inaugural Research-Creation 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.

Following Loft’s installation, the CCA welcomed multidisciplinary artist, activist, and researcher, Iako’tsi:rareh Amanda Lickers for the 2023–2024 iteration of the fellowship program. Lickers is a designer, pedagogue, and multimedia artist focused on land-body sovereignty. Lickers’ experimental short film Everlasting is a research-creation blending documentary and archival research in the cinema verité format. Everlasting will be presented at the CCA accompanied by an installation in the Shaughnessy House until August 2026.

The Indigenous Research-Creation Fellow will collaborate with the Land Acknowledgement Working Group for a period of one (1) year from January 2026 to January 2027. 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 outcome of the research-creation project can take various forms and will be determined through conversations between the fellow and the Land Acknowledgement Working Group and other curatorial teams at CCA. Any oral, visual, or spatial formats could be envisaged (for example, it could take the form of a children’s book that explores the relationship between land, place, and history through a decolonial framework), to be ultimately presented in some form on the CCA website and through a public presentation. The final format of the research-creation project should in any case contribute to ongoing conversations that shape current and ongoing research, both as a project and also as contribution to the CCA’s Living Lands project.

The Research-Creation Fellow will have the freedom to organize their agenda and time taken to produce their project, with the goal of sharing the project in 12 to 15 months. The program is flexible in its form and open to all modes of doing, but the CCA team will be available to support the Fellow in their project in whichever way is most appropriate. The Fellow will have the direct support of all divisions at the CCA aligning with their project (e.g., Publications, Public Programs, Exhibitions, etc.) and will have knowledge of the budget assigned, once the format is determined. Fees and budgets offered are aligned with common/standardized Canadian institution standards determined by project output.

The Research-Creation Fellow will collaborate with and contribute to the ongoing conversations of 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.

• The Research-Creation Fellow will receive a total amount of CAD 8,500.
• The CCA will cover travel expenses for the Research-Creation Fellow to come 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 (including a CV 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 23 November 2025.

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.