Interview With Pat Kane: Yellowknife Forever!

Gallery Blog

Over the next few months, we’re in conversation with artists, curators, and others regarding our current exhibitions at the Confederation Centre Art Gallery. 

This week, we chat with Pat Kane, a photographer and visual storyteller from Yellowknife, about his practice and work in the Yellowknife Forever! exhibition, a collaborative show that features the work of seven artists.  The exhibition is at the CCAG until October 13.  

Through the work of yourself and the other artists, the “Yellowknife Forever!” exhibition reveals unique interpretations and perspectives of the Northwest Territories. How are your own lived experiences reflected in your artwork?  

PK: I document daily life in most of the remote communities in the NWT and the people who call it home. I photograph Indigenous and non-Indigenous people that live side by side. I am of Anishinaabe and Irish Canadian ancestry and grew learning the traditions of my Indigenous and non-Indigenous heritage, so I think a lot of my work is an exploration of those two worlds and a way to understand and appreciate how Indigenous and non-Indigenous people can live (and prosper) together. 

The Northern territories are often underrepresented to wider art audiences in Canada. What is something you hope visitors will take away from this exhibition?  

PK: I hope visitors are surprised by this exhibition. Northern art can often be cliche when presented to non-Northern audiences, and those audiences don’t really see or learn anything new about the North. This curation is different because it aims to go against the stereotypes of what Northern art often looks like. The North is beautiful but it’s also rough around the edges, funny, nuanced, silly and incredibly complicated.  

The photos you have shared in this exhibition are a clear indication of the diversity of life in Yellowknife and the NWT. Can you speak on a particular photo and the story behind it?   

PK: One of my photos is an image of a shack with the words “I Love” spray painted on the side of it. A skidoo sits out front and a faint streak of the Northern Lights swirls overtop. This is a quintessential Northern scene that is strange but also quite charming. Most Northern communities have these old buildings with words or phrases painted on them, some vulgar, but others are really hopeful. For whatever reason, nobody ever paints over them and the graffiti becomes part of the community decor. I love this image because it is not technically beautiful like a travel photo but because it’s a truer representation of what the North is to me, and I find it that beautiful.  

Bio

Pat is a visual storyteller based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, on the traditional land of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. 

He takes a documentary approach to stories about life in Northern Canada, with a special focus on issues important to Indigenous people, including the relationship between land and identity.   

Pat is a National Geographic Explorer, and a former mentee of the World Press Photo Joop Swart Masterclass. His work has been published by National Geographic, The New York Times, World Press Photo, The Atlantic, The Globe and Mail, and other media worldwide. 

Pat is of Irish-Canadian and Algonquin Anishinaabe ancestry, and is a member of the Timiskaming First Nation. 

He’s part of the photo collectives Indigenous Photograph and Boreal Collective.