Image: Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity will present a live conversation with multidisciplinary artist and jeweller Catherine Blackburn on Sept. 16 as part of its 'Decolonizing the Narrative Conversation Series'. The free event is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Max Bell Auditorium in Banff, and the talk will also be livestreamed for online viewers. An optional smudge is set for 6:45 p.m., and the session is open to ages 14 and over.
The event is part of the Banff Centre Summer Arts Festival 2026 and appears in the institution’s Indigenous Arts programming. Banff Centre describes the series as a bi-monthly conversation format that invites leading Indigenous art creators to discuss their practices and processes through an Indigenous lens across literary arts, film and media arts, digital media, visual arts, and performing arts. The series is framed as a space to explore how Indigenous artists use their disciplines to decolonize artistic processes and creation.
Blackburn’s practice is presented by Banff Centre as addressing Canada’s colonial past through personal narratives, mixed media, and fashion. The institution says her work has been shown internationally, from galleries to fashion runways. In the event listing, Blackburn is identified as a member of English River First Nation, and Banff Centre notes that she has received a Governor General’s History Award and the Melissa Levin Emerging Artist Award. The page also says she was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award in 2019.
The conversation will be facilitated by Janine Windolph, Banff Centre’s Director of Indigenous Arts. According to the event page, the program includes a presentation by Blackburn, followed by discussion and a Q&A. Banff Centre also says the session will be recorded, with the recording shared after the event. The listing notes that sessions in the series may include sharing experiences and asking difficult questions.
Blackburn’s work is described in Banff Centre’s materials as narrative-based and concerned with settler-colonialism. The site’s artist biography says she was born in Patuanak, Saskatchewan, of Dene and European ancestry, and identifies her as a multidisciplinary artist and jeweller whose work has been shown internationally. The biography also says she has received several other awards and fellowships, including a Forge Residency Fellowship, an Eiteljorg Fellowship, and the Saskatchewan RBC Emerging Artist Award, and that she has been longlisted twice for the Sobey Award.
The September appearance is listed on the Banff Centre website alongside other Summer Arts Festival events, including music, literary cabarets, film screenings, and the Banff International String Quartet Festival. For the Catherine Blackburn event, Banff Centre directs viewers to register for the webinar link if they cannot attend in person. The listing places the conversation at Max Bell Auditorium on Sept. 16, 2026, at 7 p.m.
