THERE ARE A HANDFUL OF TEXTS that stay with you, that you mull over, return to, and consistently reference. Words that provide much-awaited answers to the questions floating in your head. In my case, as I have been pondering how photography, which developed alongside and assisted the colonial enterprise, can be a force for justice, I have repeatedly turned to the writings of artist and scholar Celeste Pedri-Spade. In an article titled “‘But They Were Never Only the Master’s Tools’: The Use of Photography in De-colonial Praxis” that responds to Audre Lorde’s warning that “the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house,” Pedri-Spade outlines the ways in which images can be activated to serve decolonial aims. Her ideas don’t merely exist on the page; they can be seen in action at the Materialize exhibition on view until June 3 at Critical Distance Gallery.
Curated by Ariel Smith, the show, which is part of this year’s Scotiabank CONTACT Photography Festival, brings together work from Pedri-Spade herself, as well as Joi T. Arcand and Catherine Blackburn in the gallery, plus Nadya Kwandibens on a billboard outside of Artscape Youngplace. All five women are Indigenous. Smith is nêhiyaw (Cree), white settler, and Jewish; Pedri-Spade, Ojibwe, from Lac des Mille Lacs First Nation; Arcand is from Muskeg Lake Cree Nation; Blackburn is from English River First Nation; and Kwandibens is Anishinaabe, from Animakee Wa Zhing #37 First Nation.
