To Be Seen, To Be Heard
- Recommended grades: 9 –12
- Times: Tuesdays – Thursdays, 10 am or 12:15 pm
How have Indigenous people used public events to claim agency over their representation during times of colonial oppression? How do our experiences, knowledge, and identities shape the way we interpret archival photographs?
Before their museum visit, students will watch a video from MOA’s previous feature exhibition, To Be Seen, To Be Heard: First Nations in Public Spaces, 1900–1965 (required). This video features archival photographs and interview recordings from contemporary Indigenous community members. It explores how First Nations people represented themselves as Indigenous, self-determined and modern in urban public spaces during the period of the potlatch prohibition and other forms of erasure in Canada. During the program, students will visit a selection of works in MOA’s core galleries to expand on the ideas of To Be Seen, To Be Heard. Finally, students can participate in a reflective art making activity using mixed media self-portraiture to explore themes of representation, agency, and futurity.
Program Options
Guided Visit + Hands-on Activity: Includes a guided museum visit and an artmaking activity where students create self-portrait postcards to reflect on the power of visibility and self-representation.
- Duration: 90 min + 15 min break
- Program fee: $105/class (max. 30 students) + museum admission ($8/student, free for Indigenous students)
Guided Visit Only: Includes a guided museum visit only
- Duration: 60 min
- Program fee: $60/class (max. 30 students) + museum admission ($8/student, free for Indigenous students)
To book this program, please submit a booking request.