Kent Monkman: Shame and Prejudice, A Story of Resilience

Published by

Art Museum at the University of Toronto in partnership with Black Dog Press

Contributions by

Kent Monkman, Barbara Fischer, Lucy Lippard, Richard Hill and John Ralston Saul

ISBN

978-1-912165-26-1

Publication Year

2020

To Order

Purchase in person at the Art Museum—Justina M. Barnicke Gallery or online through Art Metropole.

About

Artist Kent Monkman’s all-encompassing project, Shame and Prejudice: A Story of Resilience, takes viewers on a journey through Canada’s history, starting in the present and going back to before Canadian confederation. Throughout the book there are clever, albeit controversial, commentaries told by Monkman’s genderfluid, time-travelling, supernatural alter-ego Miss Chief Eagle Testickle. Her narratives take viewers through the history of New France and the fur trade, the nineteenth-century dispossession of First Nations lands through Canadian colonial policies, the horrors of the residential school system, and modern First Nations experiences in urban environments. Shame and Prejudice challenges predominant narratives of Canadian history and honours the resilience of First Nations peoples.

This book accompanies Monkman’s largest solo exhibition to date, which is currently travelling across Canada. The exhibition includes the artist’s own paintings, drawings, and sculptural works, which form a dialogue with historical artefacts and artworks borrowed from museums and private collections across Canada. The book is trilingual with all text in English, French and Cree.