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Last year at Art Toronto we acquired Aanzinaago (Caught in a Transformation) 01, 2024, by Native Art Department International (NADI), for the collection at the McMichael. NADI is a collaborative long-term project created and administered by the Ojibwe Anishinaabe performance artist, sculptor, and mixed-media artist Maria Hupfield (b. 1975) and the Chiricahua Apache and Mexican multimedia artist Jason Lujan (b. 1971).

Two Caribou, 2008โ€“2009, by Kananginak Pootoogook (1935โ€“2010), is a rich example of contemporary drawing from Kinngait (formerly Cape Dorset), Nunavut, depicting two bull caribou locked in battle, perhaps over a mate. Hooves fly and antlers clash, lending a sense of immediacy to the conflict.

Back in 2021, the McMichael teamed up with the Koerner Foundation and the acclaimed Canadian filmmaker David Hartman to create a series of short documentaries that pull back the curtain on the lives and practices of some of Canadaโ€™s most celebrated contemporary artists represented in the McMichaelโ€™s collection. Each film offers an intimate glimpse into their studios and landscapes, inviting us to listen as they share stories of creativity, process, and the inspirations that shape their work.