Keeping Space – Montreal Native Arts Hub bridges a cultural divide

The traditional meets the contemporary in the art that hangs from the exposed stone walls of the Ashukan Cultural Space in Old Montreal. Powwow music welcomes the patrons as they ascend the spiral staircases of the three-story showroom.

Outside, an ocean of people flows through Place Jacques-Cartier as locals and tourists watch from restaurant patios. It’s a striking space and location that sometimes eludes the people working to keep the doors open.

“It’s so hectic and we’re so busy that sometimes we forget how beautiful it is here,” said Mèlina Tsigounis, Ashukan’s communications officer.

The Ashukan Cultural Space is an Indigenous art hub committed to making Indigenous art and artists from across Canada accessible to the mainstream. The Algonquin word “Ashukan” means, suitably, “building bridges.” But for the Mi’kmaq-Acadian (or Métis) director of the space, Nadine St-Louis, it’s modern infrastructure that embraces ancestral teachings.

“If Bombardier makes a plane but there’s no runways, they’re pretty useless,” said St-Louis. “Our artists need a space that embraces our worldview.”

   

The underlying framework of the organization is social entrepreneurship. It’s a business model based on economic and professional development, social inclusion, cultural reconciliation, and respecting and promoting the artists.

When selling a piece through a third party, an artist typically can expect a 70/30 split in favour of the gallery. At Ashukan that split is flipped in favour of the artist. That practice will continue because “Indigenous artist are the gatekeepers of the past and the bridge builders of the future,” St-Louis insisted. “The artists are the key to reconciliation.”

But as a primarily social enterprise, it can be difficult to keep up with rent that exceeds $100,000 per year. “What brings happiness is not fame or money but a life of service and finding purpose,” explained St-Louis. “I’ve dedicated my life to this, this is my mission.”    

So while the space is devoted to Indigenous arts and culture, the staff’s day-to-day activities are grounded in administration. They’re in a constant state of grant writing, locating funding, trying to hit deadlines, endless paper work, and finding artists based in rural Indigenous communities. “The mission is to create opportunity for artists. The results for the artist is our reward,” said Tsigounis.

Additionally, the Ashukan Cultural Space functions as a mediator and facilitator for the artist’s journey through the art-world’s mechanisms. They host professional and personal development opportunities so that Indigenous artists can learn the bureaucratic language that’s integral to success in the arts.

“We support the artist throughout the process of applying for grants through the Canada Arts Council,” said Tsigounis. “It’s a machine everyone, no matter their background, has to go through if they want to be an artist.”

For instance, she added, “You have to be tri-lingual. You have to speak the language that resonates with the Indigenous community, the investors and the government, and they’re all different.”

At times, walking in three worlds can be conflicting. “We’re removing the colonial lens, and putting on the cultural lens to share the diversity of our worldview,” noted St-Louis. “But we’re in a bit of a paradox because while we’re de-colonizing, we’re still dependent on the institutions and their frameworks and boxes.”

Part of decolonizing means breaking stereotypes. Unfortunately stereotypes sell. “The First Nations artists doing contemporary work struggle, or have to move away from their Indigenous identity in order to fit in. We don’t want that.”

But again it’s a constant mediation between being culturally literate yet inclusive. “We also have to realize that we distil First Nation culture to a general public who may not have the first clue about Indigenous people,” said Tsigounis.

St-Louis believes we’re bearing witness to an “Indigenous Renaissance,” one of the human spirit. “We’ve arrived at a time where people are fed up with disposable culture. The past 500 years of humanity has destroyed the air, the water, the earth and the human spirit,” said St-Louis. “We have a responsibility to the earth. It’s in our teachings, our stories, and the stories are kept in the art.”