It’s a new year, which for many is a time of hope and renewal. So it’s only appropriate that the first talk in the Friends of Art History lecture series is Dr. Daniel Millette’s “Architectures of Renewal: the Indigenous Architectural Landscape of Canada”. This talk, as well as being fascinating, is important. Reading any standard textbook would give you the impression that indigenous architecture in the Americas is something that happened long ago and far away. Daniel shows us that it is still very much with us, suffused with meaning and beauty that reflect the cultures that are creating it and re-creating it every day.
I wrote in a blog before Christmas that the CUAG exhibition Walking with our Sisters was, for all its sobriety, powerfully hopeful. Daniel Millette’s scholarship always gives me that same sense of hope. An architectural historian originally trained as Virtruvian, he has worked for many years now as a consultant and planner for First Nations communities. That work has taken him across the country many times over, and he has encountered a remarkable range of new architecture that embodies and celebrates the values and traditions of our indigenous peoples. It has been a wondrous journey for him, and that infectious sense of wonder makes his work a joy to share.
This talk will also be our first public opportunity to welcome Daniel Millette to the Carleton family. I have known Daniel as a colleague and friend for nearly fifteen years, and as soon as I heard that he planned to move from Vancouver to Ottawa my first thought was “we must make him an Adjunct Professor!” I have always found Daniel’s research and collaboration with First Nations fascinating, but it is the conviction and passion that he brings to his work that has truly inspired me. In countless informal meetings over coffee, as well as in formal academic settings, Daniel has shown me an array of small buildings that have made my world a bigger place. I am delighted and proud that he agreed to join us and now has an official affiliation to our History and Theory of Architecture program. His unique expertise and voice is a great addition.
Daniel Millette’s talk will be this Friday (January 22), at 2:30 in SP 412. All are welcome – and this is not to be missed!
Daniel Millette ponders architectural form and colour in the work of photographer Diane Laundy