The RWG was pleased to hold its inaugural meeting virtually on June 2nd, 2020. Our membership consists of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Conservators and Arts and Heritage professionals from across the country and we were pleased to meet each other face to face over the internet for the first time. This first meeting was mostly for introductions and updates from the secretaries on the status of our funding, administrative issues and contacts the secretaries have made that they hope will develop into productive future relationships. Our members will now meet in their regional groups to discuss governance structures and where the group will go from here.
We have some excellent members, both well-established and emerging, but we still need more! We’re particularly looking for more First Nations, Inuit and Metis members to join the group, as Indigenous members are currently still a minority in the RWG. We’re also looking for more representation from the Prairies, East Coast, and Northern regions- so anyone in the heritage field reading this who fits this description and is interested to join is encouraged to contact us!Â
Over the summer, we have been working on developing our knowledge of decolonizing theory with a series of readings that we will discuss in our next meeting. We hope to do a cultural competency training together soon, similar to what we would have had at the workshop that was planned for the CAC conference this year. Our priority right now is that our group form a governance structure that is safe, fair, and informed by a solid understanding of Indigenous histories and the continuing impacts of the colonial project on the ways art and heritage are presented and cared for.
If you’d like to support this project, please visit our gofundme here: https://ca.gofundme.com/f/art-conservators-for-truth-and-reconciliation