Professor Bonnie Devine talks about Land in War
Lakehead University Department of Visual Arts Lecture Series 2024.
Professor Devine is a visual artist, writer, and educator. An off-reserve member of the Ojibwe, Anishinaabek of Genaabaajing, Serpent River First Nation on the north shore of Lake Huron, Devine’s work emerges from the storytelling and image-making traditions that are central to Anishinaabe culture.
Devine will discuss her recent exhibition Land in War currently at the Tom Thomson Gallery in Owen Sound.
The eight large landscape paintings included in Land in War examine the various ways that land and its possession and control are at the heart of war.
The main intent of the exhibition is to center the land as a site and object of conflict and colonial desire and especially to convey the harm the land has suffered and the resilience and beauty it epitomizes.
In an era of increasing global conflict, this project, Land in War, allows Devine to think about Colonialism’s penchant for violent conflict and the devastation it repeatedly wreaks on human and non-human beings alike. It also expresses our collective passion for the history and beauty of this land, our home.