Gathering the Great Plains

Remai Modern, MacKenzie Art Gallery, and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective/Collectif des commissaires autochtones (ICCA) come together to present a four-day gathering that reflects on contemporary art rooted in the rich and layered narratives of the Great Plains. Coinciding with thematically related exhibitions, discussions, and opportunities for community engagement, the gathering aims to cultivate knowledge exchange, collaboration, and increase solidarities—particularly between Indigenous and Black communities throughout the region.

On Thursday, November 13, Remai Modern will support a series of panels and discussions informed by themes of movement, borders, and migration. The program foregrounds overlooked stories and histories of displacement and resilience. By highlighting artistic practices that make visible the lived experiences of marginalized communities—such as Black and Indigenous migrations in Oklahoma and across the northern Plains—the gathering aims to strengthen cross-border networks and nurture dialogue across geographies.

Through exhibitions, conversations, and performances, “Gathering the Great Plains” offers a forum to consider how artists and cultural organizations articulate histories, sustain cultural traditions, and shape contemporary understandings of place. In doing so, the Plains emerge as a shared terrain of relation and responsibility, alive with the stories it carries and the futures it has the potential to make possible.

Panels at Remai Modern
November 13, 9am to 5pm CST
Join remotely on Zoom

Complicated Entanglements: Black and Indigenous Historical Intersections in the Plains
Featuring: Dr. Alaina E. Robert and Dr. Ryan W. Booth (moderated by Sally Frater) 

Building Solidarities Through Creative Practice
Featuring Dr. Pablo Barrera, Michelle Jacques, Crystal Mowry, Erica Violet Lee (moderated by Dr. heather ahtone)

On Land: Artistic Relations to Space and Place
Featuring Diedrick Brackens, Crystal Z Campbell, Yatika Starr Fields (moderated by David Garneau)

Solidarity Building workshop for Indigenous and Black participants (moderated by Dr. Joy James)

Visit remaimodern.org to learn more.

Gathering the Great Plains continues at the MacKenzie Art Gallery on November 14 and 15. Learn more about the program in Regina. 

Gathering the Great Plains also coincides with the the ICCA’s National Gathering: Kîsik | Skywatching the Future.

Concurrent exhibition at Remai Modern
The first iteration of the Great Plains Series, In the Middle of Everywhere (2022), pushed against the notion that the region is static or peripheral compared to the coasts and posited the Plains as a central hub—dynamic, layered, and deeply connected to broader histories and geographies.

In this second installment, we return to one of the themes explored in the first: the concept of movement. In Points of Return – Spaces of Departure, movement is positioned as a lens through which to understand the experiences of flora, fauna, and people who have traversed these lands. Though often imagined as a place of stasis, the Plains have always been marked by activity: seasonal shifts, cycles of weather, cultural exchange, migration, and trade have shaped its terrain, atmosphere, and communities. At the same time, the exhibition challenges narratives that describe the region as a space to pass through, whether by expedition, migration, or the forced movement of goods and people. Those renditions overlook the region as a terminus, discounting the ways that life here on the Plains has been sustained, adapted, and renewed.

Points of Return – Spaces of Departure is on view at Remai Modern until April 7, 2026.

Gathering the Great Plains is supported by the Terra Foundation for American Art, the Frank & Ellen Remai Foundation, the City of Saskatoon, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Saskatchewan Arts Board and SaskCulture through Sask Lotteries Fund.