Earthwork
Works by:
Alex Jacobs-Blum, Art Hunter, BUSH Gallery, Edward Poitras, Faye HeavyShield, Lisa Myers, Michael Belmore, Mike MacDonald, Protect the Tract Collective
Earthwork
Curated by Mikinaak Migwans
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Opening Reception:
Wednesday, September 3, 5pm–8pm
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Exhibition Dates:
September 4–December 20, 2025
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Location:
University of Toronto Art Centre
University College, 15 King’s College Circle
Earthwork critically reassesses the art historical framings of “earthwork” popularized by the Minimalist and Land Art movements of the 1960s and 1970s, reclaiming the term through an Indigenous lens. The exhibition re-imagines what it means to work with and for Earth, building on ancestral and contemporary practices of repair and resilience toward possible futures.
Like the term “beadwork,” earthwork refers to a way of working rather than the making of singular objects. With a Canada-wide scope emphasizing the Great Lakes region, Earthwork takes as its starting point an understanding of ancestral earthworks less as monuments than as sites of ongoing stewardship and care. It considers multiple layers of engagement with the land, including a history of land defense movements, the cultivation of plants, and ancestral practices of prescribed burns alongside contemporary artworks as creative acts of relational intervention.
Exhibition Resources
Press Release
Engagement Guide
Opening Reception: Fall 2025 Exhibitions
Wednesday, September 3, 5pm–8pm
University of Toronto Art Centre
Curatorial Tour: Earthwork
Saturday, September 6, 3pm–4pm
University of Toronto Art Centre
Teach-In with Akni:ho’gwa:s Collective
Wednesday, September 17, 10am–3pm
Hart House, East Common Room
An Afternoon with seth cardinal dodginghorse
Friday, October 10, 4pm–6pm
University of Toronto, Ziibiing Pavillion and Garden
Art Bus Excursion: Plant Signals with Lisa Myers
The 24th Janet E. Hutchison Lecture with Aaron Katzeman
Land/Labour: Artists Working for and against Settler Colonialism
Wednesday, October 15, 5pm–8pm
Hart House, Music Room
Registration is required.
Artist Tour with Alex Jacobs-Blum
Wednesday, October 22, 6pm–7:30pm
University of Toronto Art Centre
Registration is recommended.
Lands Meeting with BUSH Gallery
Sunday, November 2, 2pm–3pm EST / 11am–12pm PST
On Zoom
Registration is required.
Mounds & Memory: Understanding the Serpent Mounds at Hiawatha First Nation
Thursday, November 13, 2025, 11am–7pm EST
Various locations
Registration is required for some events.
Acknowledgements
Reading Room Exhibition Design: Brennan Kelly
Our Supporters
This exhibition is made possible with generous support from Partners in Art. Exhibition programming is supported by Toronto Arts Council Strategic Funding and the Mounds and Memory Project, University of Toronto, funded by SSHRC.
We gratefully acknowledge operating support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Government of Ontario, and the Toronto Arts Council.
