Back Talk

Mendel Art Gallery; Bilingual edition (Dec 12 2012) Paperback 144 pages 978-1896359779 Ruth Cuthand was born in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, and is of Plains Cree and Scottish ancestry. For nearly 30 years her works “talk back” to mainstream media and colonial society, addressing the frictions between cultures, the failures of representation, and the political uses of anger in Canada. Her subjects include “white liberal” attitudes towards Aboriginal women, the Canadian response to the 1990 Oka crisis, Mormon-Native relations in Cardston, Alberta (the artist's childhood home), and more. This comprehensive overview features a selection of artworks produced between 1983 and 2009, including the complete suite of twelve award-winning beadworks, the Trading series, which depict the diseases that ravished First Nations upon European contact. As an artist, teacher, and cultural activist, Cuthand has been extremely influential on contemporary Aboriginal artists across Canada