About the Exhibition

“Bizaanigaabawi (He or She Stands Still)”
An Exhibition by Nadya Kwandibens 
Dates: May 1- 31, 2025

We invite you to join us for this artist reception on:
Saturday, May 3rd – 2 to 4pm
Artist Talk: 3pm

For more information, contact gallery@riverdalehub.ca.

About the Artist

Nadya Kwandibens is Anishinaabe (Ojibwe) from the Animakee Wa Zhing #37 First Nation in northwestern Ontario. She is an award-winning photographer, a Canon Ambassador, and the current Photo Laureate for the City of Toronto. Nadya’s artistic practice encompasses three key bodies of work: Concrete Indians, which explores contemporary urban Indigenous identity and decolonial resistance; Red Works Outtakes, which challenges the “stoic Indian” stereotype through uplifting portraiture; and emergence, another open-call series focused on acts of decolonization and Indigenous intelligence. Her latest project, The Red Chair Sessions, emphasizes the reclamation of Indigenous spaces and languages.

Artist’s Vision Statement:

We, as Indigenous people, are often portrayed in history books as Nations once great; in museums as Nations frozen stoic; in the media as Nations forever troubled. These images can be despairing; however, my goal seeks to steer the positive course. If our history is a shadow, let this moment serve as light. We are musicians, lawyers, doctors, mothers and sons. We are activists, scholars, dreamers, fathers and daughters. Let us claim ourselves now and see that we are, and will always be great, thriving, balanced civilizations capable of carrying ourselves into that bright new day.

Pictured: Concrete Indians: Tee Lyn Duke (née Copenace) Toronto, Ontario March 2010, Photograph by Nadya Kwandibens

Art is Everywhere, Peterborough, Ontario, September 2024, Photograph by Nadya Kwandibens