Art/Place Making in a Settler Colonial Context: A Critical Place Inquiry on the Haldimand Tract/Kitchener-Waterloo From a White Settler Perspective

Abstract

Although critical place scholars implicate artists in settler colonial processes of placemaking, there is little information on how white settler artists (WSAs) might use their creative practice to support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence. This research responds to this gap by investigating the creative practices of WSAs located on the Haldimand Tract/in Kitchener-Waterloo (KW), and how they might approach critical, contextual practices in their creative work. A critical place inquiry was combined with ethnographic research principles and a transformative critical research paradigm. Six WSAs participated in mobile interviews, which took place in a location significant to them. To locate myself, I engaged in critical listening positionality after each interview, generating a soundscape, photos, and written reflections. Through qualitative analysis, key findings emerged including: moving towards practices of accountability in creative practice as WSAs, moving towards practices of solidarity with Indigenous resurgence in creative practice as WSAs, and creative practice is relational: situating self, relationship with others, land, place, and systems of settler colonialism. Findings indicate that WSAs creative practice can support practices of accountability and solidarity with Indigenous resurgence, however methodological and practical movement building is needed