Pizandawatc / The One Who Listens

Pizandawatc / The One Who Listens brings together striking works by Anishinaabe/French artist Caroline Monnet, revealing the strength of her visual language and mastery of materials.

Pizandawatc, meaning “the one who listens” in Anishinaabemowin, refers to the traditional name of Monnet’s maternal family before Oblate missionaries imposed new surnames on Indigenous Peoples. The title also honours her great-grandmother, Mani Pizandawatc — the first in her family to experience the fragmentation of her land into reserves. Through this deeply personal lens, the exhibition becomes an act of cultural reclamation, exploring memory, land and resilience in the face of historic erasure.

Monnet’s work reflects her engagement with time, oral history, and the idea of territory as a vessel of memory. She transforms the sound of Anishinaabemowin into layered wooden sculptures, bronze forms echoing weathered wood fragments, and embroidered textile works incorporating industrial materials with phrases that evoke the connective power of nature and the resilience of Indigenous cultural expressions. Together, these pieces create a powerful experience, inviting visitors to reflect on identity, belonging, and their relationship to the land. Through this exhibition, visitors will witness contemporary Indigenous art as a living force of cultural renewal that is compelling and deeply relevant today.

This exhibition is organized by the Art Museum at the University of Toronto.

Touring support for the exhibition is provided by the Canada Council for the Arts.