Directions to BUSH Gallery
Giving directions is one of the first steps when inviting someone to visit. It is a hosting obligation. Following these directions is a guesting obligation. But there are so many more directions than those guiding a visitor geographically to a place—turn left here, drive until you reach such-and-such a landmark. These directions to BUSH Gallery1—an Indigenous-led conceptual and real gallery space enacted as a collaborative project between artists Tania Willard, Peter Morin, Gabrielle Hill, and Jeneen Frei Njootli, as well as the land—direct the (settler) visitor to reflect on moving through the territories of distinct Indigenous Nations and Indian reserves, and ultimately entering the land as a visitor. Implicating each trip as a political and conceptual journey, the directions suggest that when visiting, settlers do not take mobility on Indigenous lands for granted. These directions draw on divergent experiences of shared histories and signal the exchange of guest-host relations. While highlighting hosting as a form of sovereignty, a relational welcoming, these directions do not let the settler visitor off the hook, instead appealing for a form of guesting that is undertaken with humility.
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