New Canadian Embassy woos the French with Indigenous art

Whether visiting for a trade negotiation, to replace alost passportor applying for a visa at the new Canadian Embassy in Paris, the backdrop is art that reflects Canadian values.

A few blocks away from its former home, the new embassy is located in a smaller but completely renovated building with updated, high-tech facilities designed to show off Canada's artistic talent.

The walls, lobby, meeting spaces and consular offices at the new embassy are covered in art and most of it is by Indigenous artists.

And for the first time, the embassy, theCanadian Cultural Centreand its galleryare under the same roof.

Culture isimportant to the Frenchand Paris is arguably the epicentre of the art world, according to ManonDumas, the centre's director.

Withthat in mind, Canada's new embassy in the City of Light is a tribute to Canadian artists' creativity.

"Cultural diplomacy is one more tool to make sure that Canada's interests and Canada's values are resonating around the world," said Dumas, noting the country's values of inclusion, diversity and reconciliation.

Works by Indigenous artist Kent Monkman, an internationally acclaimed Cree artist,were chosen to inauguratethe new centre. His massive new paintings depicthis heroic alter ego, Miss Chief Eagle Testickle,ina series of mythical and historical scenarios.

"Here we have two major themes that are screaming out at us:LGBTQrights andreconciliationwith Indigenous peoples," saidManon. She said the featured art also inspires related lectures and panel discussions at the embassy.

In the new works, Monkman created provocative responses to the traditional European paintings that he viewed at theMusedesConfluencesin Lyon.

The centrepiece of the exhibition isMissChief's Wet Dream, a monumental eight-metre-wide canvas. It'sinspired by two iconic historical Frenchpaintings:Thodore Gricault'sRaft of the Medusa and Eugne Delacroix's Liberty Leading the People.

Monkman's version ispopulated with Indigenous heroes and symbols and notable representatives of the old order of Europe.

"We wanted a show that was totally new. And we wanted it to be about the relationship between France and Canada," said curator CatherineBdard.

She describedMonkman's work as "reverse colonization of European painting."

Art woven throughout

The art doesn't stop at the gallery's door. It is woven throughout the space, reinforcing a vision of Canadathe embassy wants to the world to see.

For instance, the windowof the embassy's conference room with its view of the Eiffel Toweris imprinted with Indigenous symbols.MarianneNicolson, aDzawada'enuxwvisual artist from B.C.,engraved 195 images from nature onto the wall of glass. Each onerepresentsa signatoryof the 2015Paris Climate Accord.

Constructed from traditional clay tobacco smoking pipes, Nadia Myre'silluminatedTree of Shifting Forms stands tall in the embassy's courtyard.

Myre, a Sobey Award-winning contemporary artist, is an Algonquin member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation.

A video installation of undulating ocean waves and a constant horizon accompanies visitors on their journey toward the consular office,and perhaps, a new life.

The installation created by TamiraSawatzky, Elle Flanders and EshratErfanian promises hope at the end of the long corridor and reflects the voyage (literally or figuratively) that many have made to get there.

Meanwhile, a huge mosaic dominates the embassy'sfront lobby, bringing visitors face to face with Toronto basketball fans.

Toronto artist Stephen Andrews collaborated with artisans from Montreal's Mosaika, an art and design company, to piece together photographs of a huge multicultural crowd typically filling the stands at a Raptorsgame.

"We want to be influential, to stimulate debates, questions and interrogations and emotions," Bdard said.

Watch the creation of the piece made by Andrews and Mosaika: