OCAD University is presenting a Kanien’kehá:ka-led exhibition at the Canada Pavilion during the 2026 Gwangju Biennale in South Korea, opening in September, one of the world’s leading contemporary art exhibitions and Asia’s most significant biennale.
Skennen’kó:wa ken? (Do You Carry Great Peace?), generously sponsored by former OCAD University Board member David Binet, is being presented at the Lee KangHa Art Museum in Gwangju, South Korea and features works by acclaimed Kanien’kehá:ka artists Shelley Niro, Melissa General and Hannah Claus from Canada.
Curated by Ryan Rice, executive director and curator of Indigenous Art at Onsite Gallery, OCAD University’s professional gallery, the exhibition highlights the global reach, ongoing evolution and impact of Indigenous contemporary art while demonstrating OCAD University’s leadership in advancing Indigenous artistic and curatorial practices on the international stage.
Rice states: “The pavilion’s curatorial premise, carrying philosophical and generational duties of peace, aligns with Biennale Artistic Director Ho Tzu Nyen’s proposition, You Must Change Your Life, which considers how transformation unfolds not only through dramatic large-scale events and historical ruptures, but also quietly and continuously within our everyday lives.”
The exhibition coincides with OCAD University’s 150th year-long celebrations, being launched in October 2026.
“OCAD University is honoured to help amplify Indigenous voices on one of the world’s most important contemporary art stages,” says Ana Serrano, president and vice-chancellor of OCAD University. “Skennen’kó:wa ken? (Do You Carry Great Peace?) reflects the power, innovation and global resonance of Indigenous contemporary art, while affirming our commitment to advancing Indigenous artistic and curatorial leadership through international dialogue and collaboration.”
Lee Sun, chief curator at the Lee KangHa Museum and partner curator for the Canada Pavilion comments: “This exhibition contributes to redefining the international standing of arts and culture between Korea and Canada, while highlighting the participation of Kanien’kehá:ka artists. It is our hope that artists, cultural administrators and a wide range of art professionals in both countries will, through mutual support and collaboration, foster closer and deeper connections, while illuminating and honouring a shared history of cultural creativity and exchange.”
ABOUT THE EXHIBITION
Skennen’kó:wa ken? (Do You Carry Great Peace?) brings together interdisciplinary and lens-based works, including photography, video, sculpture and installation by Niro, General, and Claus.
The artists’ practices are grounded in Kanien’kehá:ka teachings of peace, reflected in the daily greeting from which the exhibition takes its name. This greeting, an affirmation of mutual recognition and respect, reflects a foundational value of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy (People of the Longhouse), recognized as the oldest continuous democracy in the Americas, predating Western colonization.
Centering the political, cultural, and spiritual roles of Haudenosaunee women, the pavilion emphasizes rematriation—Indigenous women-led efforts to restore intergenerational relationships to ancestral lands, waters, and cultural knowledge—while exploring continuity and self-governance through contemporary artistic practice.
Positioned within Gwangju’s history of democratic resistance and collective action, the exhibition fosters dialogue between Indigenous governance philosophies, Haudenosaunee worldview and global movements for justice and renewal. It affirms Canada’s commitment to cultural sovereignty, reconciliation, and inclusive contemporary art discourse, while expanding dominant narratives of Canadian art on an international stage.
The exhibition further highlights the distinctiveness of Canada’s contemporary art landscape, emphasizing the significant contributions of artists, particularly those who are graduates of OCAD University, Canada’s largest and oldest art, design, and media university, which celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2026.
The exhibition is generously sponsored by former OCAD University Board member David Binet and supported by OCAD University, Onsite Gallery, the Canadian Embassy in Seoul, and presented in collaboration with the Lee KangHa Art Museum in Gwangju.
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