Tanya Lukin Linklater

Tanya Lukin Linklater
Name	Tanya Lukin Linklater
Birth date	1976
Birth place	Anchorage, Alaska
Nationality	Canadian, American
Occupation	Artist, activist, educator, curator
Known for	Performance, installation, video, drawing

Tanya Lukin Linklater is an Indigenous visual artist, choreographer, and educator whose interdisciplinary practice engages performance, installation, video, and drawing within dialogues about Indigenous sovereignty, settler colonialism, land, language, and pedagogy. Her work intersects collaborations with performers, dancers, writers, and scholars across institutions and festivals in North America and Europe, producing site-responsive projects that convene histories of treaty-making, oral tradition, and ceremonial practice.

Early life and education

Born in Anchorage, Alaska, and raised in Whitehorse, Yukon, Linklater's formative years were shaped by family, community, and regional networks linking Indigenous nations and institutions such as the Alaska Native Heritage Center, the Yukon University, and local cultural organizations. She completed undergraduate and graduate study with programs and mentors connected to institutions like the University of British Columbia, the Ontario College of Art and Design University, and the University of Waterloo, encountering curricula and faculty engaged with Indigenous arts and critical theory, including dialogues resonant with work at the Canadian Film Centre, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and the Royal Ontario Museum. Early influences included collaborations and conversations with artists and scholars who have worked with the National Gallery of Canada, the Art Gallery of Ontario, and community arts organizations throughout the Northwest Territories and British Columbia.

Artistic practice and themes

Linklater's practice integrates choreography, performance, installation, video, and drawing in relation to Indigenous oral history and treaty relations, situating works in relation to sites such as Fort William, Kitchener-Waterloo, and urban centers like Toronto, Vancouver, and New York City. Her thematic concerns engage with frameworks developed by thinkers and institutions including Audra Simpson, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Derrickson (Ken)? and curatorial projects associated with the Toronto Biennial of Art, the Venice Biennale, and the Whitney Museum of American Art. She often foregrounds language revitalization and performance histories connected to Indigenous pedagogies and ceremonies, dialoguing with archives held at the Canadian Museum of History, the Smithsonian Institution, and the Library and Archives Canada. Her collaborative processes align her with dancers, musicians, and writers from communities represented in projects at venues such as the Banff Centre, the National Arts Centre, and the Walker Art Center.

Career and exhibitions

Linklater has presented work across galleries, biennials, festivals, and academic sites including exhibitions and performances at the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, the Contemporary Art Gallery (Vancouver), the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, the Mayer Center? and international festivals tied to the Documenta and the Göteborg International Biennial. Solo and group projects have taken place alongside programming at the Calgary Art Gallery, the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the SFMoMA, the MoMA PS1, the Tate Modern, and the Serpentine Galleries. Collaborative commissions and site-specific performances have been developed for institutions such as the MacKenzie Art Gallery, the Kamloops Art Gallery, the Contemporary Native Arts Collective?, and the Cirque du Soleil-adjacent performance platforms, as well as academic symposia at the University of Toronto, the Harvard University, and the University of British Columbia. Her exhibition practice frequently engages municipal and national cultural calendars including programming by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, and international residency networks.

Awards and residencies

Her career includes residencies and fellowships with organizations such as the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, the Canada Council for the Arts, the MacDowell Colony, and university-based fellowships at institutions like the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. She has received awards and grants administered by agencies including the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the British Columbia Arts Council, and recognition in programs associated with the Guggenheim Foundation, the Royal Society of Canada, and national prize juries convened by major museums and festivals. Residencies and project development have been supported by galleries and museums including the Art Gallery of Ontario, the National Gallery of Canada, and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

Academic and curatorial work

Linklater has held teaching and research positions at universities and art schools including appointments and visiting lectureships associated with the University of Western Ontario, the Concordia University, the University of Waterloo, and the Emily Carr University of Art + Design. Her academic engagements include symposia, curatorial projects, and collaborative research with faculty and centres such as the Indigenous Studies (University of Toronto), the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, the Publications at the University of British Columbia Press, and partnerships with curators from the Canadian Centre for Architecture and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. As a curator and program developer she has worked with community organizations, gallery curatorial teams, and interdisciplinary collectives that liaise with the Canada Council for the Arts, university galleries, and cultural policy makers.

Selected works and projects

Selected projects include performance-installations and video works developed for commissions and exhibitions at venues like the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal, and the Banff Centre. Major projects have been presented in contexts alongside artists and writers linked to the Indigenous Art Centre, the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights organization?, and collaborative performances with dancers and choreographers connected to the National Ballet of Canada and contemporary collectives in Vancouver and Toronto. Her performative scores and drawing series have been included in catalogue essays and exhibition texts produced by the National Gallery of Canada, the Museum of Contemporary Art (Chicago), and university presses.

Reception and critical analysis

Critics, scholars, and curators from outlets and institutions such as the Canadian Art, the Globe and Mail, the New York Times, the Frieze, the Artforum, and academic journals in Indigenous studies have engaged Linklater's work through themes of sovereignty, pedagogy, and performative memory. Reviews and critical essays situate her practice in relation to contemporaries appearing in biennials, major museum exhibitions, and scholarly volumes produced by the University of Toronto Press, the Duke University Press, and the MIT Press, connecting her work to debates circulated at conferences like the Association of Art Historians and symposia organized by the Canadian Studies Network.

Category:Canadian artists Category:Indigenous artists of North America