Glenbow Museum
There’s a new exhibit over at the Glenbow that I’m going to go see this week. I’ll probably blog about it. I’m looking forward to seeing the art, and thinking about the politics of the exhibit. It’s a Canadian artist who does Western stuff, from what I can tell.
The Glenbow, as I’ve mentioned somewhere before, will let you in for free if you self-identify as First Nations. They don’t ask for a Status card or anything like that, just your community’s name.
I was walking by the museum the other night. On Stephen Avenue the museum shop has a window facing the street, with a display of what’s on sale in the shop. I was quite surprised to see a large headdress in there, obviously brand-new and made of synthetic material. It was alongside some other ‘Indian’ souvenirs: a drum, dreamcatchers, etc.. The museum is making money off of this stuff at the same time as promoting awareness about the First Nations in Alberta. Is this exploitation?? I feel like it is!
As a final note, I’ve added a link to the Glenbow website about this exhibit. Check out the link to the store as well, apparently the shop is “Calgary’s cultural treasure”.