Guy Sioui Durand
Guy Sioui Durand is a Wendat (Huron) based in Wendake, Quebec. He is a sociologist (Ph.D), art critic, independent curator, and performer (spoken words). He specialises in contemporary Amerindian art and contemporary art. He is the president and co-founder of the publishing house, Éditions Intervention. He is also a member of the Aboriginal Curators’ Collective of Canada.
Theoretician and teacher
Sioui Durand is the author of books including “L’art Comme Alternative: Réseaux et Pratiques d’Art Parallèle au Québec” (1997), “Riopelle: Indianité” (2002) and “L’esprit des Objets” (2013). He was a speaker in various seminars including “Sociology of Culture” at Laval University, “History of Aboriginal Contemporary Art” at Aboriginal Kiuna College and “Actual Art” at University of Quebec in Chicoutimi.
Art critic
As an art critic, he writes and publishes essays in Inter Art Actuel magazine and numerous articles such as “Political Art: New Ruses and Anarchy” (in Resistance. Et puis, nous avons construits de nouvelles formes / And Then, We Built New Forms, Quebec, Manif d’Art 7, catalog, 2014) and “Capteurs d’Art Vivant en Gépèg/Québec: A Survey” (L’Art Même, Bruxelles, Belgium, 2013).
Independent curator
Guy Sioui Durand is an independent curator for several art events. In 2015 he curated an experimental exhibition, “How to Explain Aboriginal Art to a Thai Boxer?” (Formats Library rcaaq, Montreal City). In 2014, Sioui Durand was the curator of “Resistance: Idle No More” exhibition at the Huron-Wendat Museum and the Performance Art Manifestation Désobéissez: Prise de Paroles at Musée de la Civilisation. These two events were part of for the International Manif d’Art 7 in Quebec.
Lectures and performances
Inspired by his Aboriginal heritage and the network of Action Art, Guy Sioui Durand creates what he calls in French “Harangues Performatives” or “Conference/Performance” in English. He has participated in many international conferences/performances namely “Symbolic and Political Meaning of Wampum and Flags in the North American Native Art” at Musée d’Art de Calais, France (2014), “Nature of Action Art: Importance of the Context” at University of Dublin, Ireland (2014), “Orality and Deambulation” at Tajin, Mexico (2014), “The Situation of Art in the Artist-Run Centres in the City of Quebec” at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre (2013), “Art Contemporain et Identités Autochtones: Une Contre-écriture de la Mondialisation at the Institut National d’Histoire de l’Art, INHA, Paris Sorbonne 3, France and “Integraçao/Action: Sao Paulo-Quebec in Sao Paulo, Brazil (2011).