Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
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Kent Monkman is a 2025 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Video directed by David Hartman.
A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit https://en.ggarts.ca.
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Transcript:
I think the thing that drives me is just the need to make art, and I can’t explain it other than that’s when I feel the most normal or grounded is when I’m making art.
I always felt that to really be grounded as an artist, the most important thing is to be true to yourself. And that means speaking to the themes and concerns that are urgent to yourself personally first. From there, you’re going to have the most informed perspective. You’re going to know your subject matter the best.
It was really about wanting to communicate my own experiences, to express my own way of thinking, my own reactions to this legacy of the colonial project that has impacted my own family, that has impacted my community, and wanting to address that directly through a very personal lens. My hope was that in doing so from a very personal perspective, that I would also reach a wide audience.
I think that I do that for myself. I make those paintings for myself. I know they have impact. I know they’re difficult to look at sometimes, but I just feel like they’re important for me to make, an important part of my process.
I think that sometimes my audience feels validated by seeing themselves or by seeing their experiences in my work. I think that’s how I see that we are able to transcend these difficulties by creating art out of them.
But it is exhilarating to see people embrace the character, to see value in my work. It’s not for everybody. It is challenging, and it explodes preconceptions that people have about what an Indigenous person is or what an Indigenous artist is.
So, I think it is very rewarding as an artist to see that recognition happen in my lifetime. I just want my work to be disseminated and exhibited as widely as possible.
I always think about the world stage because I feel like Canada has projected this image of itself out into the world, and the world doesn’t see the behind-the-scenes stuff. They don’t see the darker side to the colonial history here. I’m really interested in getting my work out there more widely so that people can understand what actually happened here.
#GGArts2025 #KentMonkman #CanadaCouncil
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
X - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
X - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
Please like this video and subscribe to support the arts in Canada.
Kent Monkman is a 2025 winner of the Governor General’s Awards in Visual and Media Arts.
Video directed by David Hartman.
A presentation of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Independent Media Arts Alliance.
The Canada Council for the Arts is a federal, arm’s-length Crown corporation created by an Act of Parliament in 1957 (Canada Council for the Arts Act) “to foster and promote the study and enjoyment of, and the production of works in, the arts.”
For more information, visit https://en.ggarts.ca.
****
Transcript:
I think the thing that drives me is just the need to make art, and I can’t explain it other than that’s when I feel the most normal or grounded is when I’m making art.
I always felt that to really be grounded as an artist, the most important thing is to be true to yourself. And that means speaking to the themes and concerns that are urgent to yourself personally first. From there, you’re going to have the most informed perspective. You’re going to know your subject matter the best.
It was really about wanting to communicate my own experiences, to express my own way of thinking, my own reactions to this legacy of the colonial project that has impacted my own family, that has impacted my community, and wanting to address that directly through a very personal lens. My hope was that in doing so from a very personal perspective, that I would also reach a wide audience.
I think that I do that for myself. I make those paintings for myself. I know they have impact. I know they’re difficult to look at sometimes, but I just feel like they’re important for me to make, an important part of my process.
I think that sometimes my audience feels validated by seeing themselves or by seeing their experiences in my work. I think that’s how I see that we are able to transcend these difficulties by creating art out of them.
But it is exhilarating to see people embrace the character, to see value in my work. It’s not for everybody. It is challenging, and it explodes preconceptions that people have about what an Indigenous person is or what an Indigenous artist is.
So, I think it is very rewarding as an artist to see that recognition happen in my lifetime. I just want my work to be disseminated and exhibited as widely as possible.
I always think about the world stage because I feel like Canada has projected this image of itself out into the world, and the world doesn’t see the behind-the-scenes stuff. They don’t see the darker side to the colonial history here. I’m really interested in getting my work out there more widely so that people can understand what actually happened here.
#GGArts2025 #KentMonkman #CanadaCouncil
Connect with us on social media:
Canada Council for the Arts
Instagram - instagram.com/canada.council
Facebook - facebook.com/canadacouncil
X - twitter.com/CanadaCouncil
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canada-council-for-the-arts
Website - canadacouncil.ca
Art Bank
Instagram - instagram.com/artbank_banquedart
Facebook - facebook.com/CCartbank
YouTube - youtube.com/watch?v=x9fGIx7hZYk
Website - artbank.ca
CCUNESCO - Canadian Commission for UNESCO
Instagram - instagram.com/ccunesco
X - twitter.com/CCUNESCO
LinkedIn - linkedin.com/company/canadian-commission-for-unesco
Website - en.ccunesco.ca
