Beginning in 2008, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada was to become a catalyst for an unprecedented era of investigation and documentation of the consequences of four centuries of European colonisation - a tragic history of dispossession, displacement, and violence against the Indigenous peoples of Turtle Island that the TRC's 2015 final report would describe as 'cultural genocide'. This work package begins with an in-depth exploration of the ways in which contemporary Indigenous artists on Turtle Island/Canada have been illuminating and advancing the far-reaching process of reckoning that was central to the TRC's work. That process continues in the ongoing struggles of Indigenous peoples to secure fundamental rights and greater autonomy, and to draw attention to centuries of injustices whose social, economic, and political impacts are still so keenly felt today.

How are Indigenous artists addressing these ongoing struggles in their work, and how have they engaged with and contributed to awareness and activism around critically important issues such as the legacy of Canada's residential school system; the devastating reality of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls; and continuing threats to Indigenous land and water rights? Beginning with an extensive programme of conversations with Indigenous artists (both well-established and emerging), curators, scholars and activists, this work package aims to highlight the ways in which contemporary Indigenous artists are enlarging and reimagining the story of the physical and spiritual space called Turtle Island/Canada.