'''Charlotte Townsend-Gault'''is an art historian, professor emeritus, author, and curator. Townsend-Gault is most closely associated with the critique, teaching, research and exhibition of contemporary Indigenous visual and material culture of North America, and specialization with the Northwest Coast region.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>Her scholarship has contributed to the complexity of discourses surrounding contemporary Indigenous art practices in the disciplines of art history and anthropology.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref><blockquote>
"My long-standing engagement with the reception of Indigenous cultural expression, particularly in North America, is reflected in my own writing and teaching. Debates and teaching in both Art History and Anthropology Departments, in combination with other professional and personal affiliations, consistently reveal the conflicting diversity of ways in which First Nations cultures are understood, by whom and for whom, and how, or whether, contradictory positions are to be reconciled. Such issues prove to be inseparable from broader contemporary methodological, political, ethical and epistemological concerns relating to art."</blockquote>A faculty member with the [[University of British Columbia]], Department of Art History, Visual Art and Theory since the 1980s, Townsend-Gault is also an Associate faculty member (emeritus) with the Department of Anthropology at UBC, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Anthropology at [[University College London]].<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Townsend-Gault's extensive scholarship includes collaborative anthologies and curatorial projects. Her writing has appeared in numerous respected anthropological and art historical journals. Along with her colleagues Karen Duffek and [[Ruth Phillips]], she is lauded as a distinguished scholar with a "mature perspective that we have come to rely on."<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Townsend-Gault and co-editors Jennifer Kramer and [[Ki-Ke-In]]<nowiki/>were awarded the 2015 Canada Prize in the Humanities by the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, for their 2013 anthology, ''Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas''.<ref></ref>The anthology was the impetus for the "What's at Stake? Intertextual Indigenous Knowledges" series in Vancouver in 2016.<ref></ref>The book originated from a graduate seminar in 1998 at UBC,<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>and has been awarded two additional prizes:
* 2015, Winner - Jeanne Clarke Award for Publication, Prince George Public Library, and
* 2014, Winner - Melva J. Dwyer Award, Art Libraries Society of North America, Canada<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
<blockquote>The book has received high praise from scholars in the field:"This excellent contribution to the field of Northwest Coast art should be considered required reading for museum anthropologists and those in museum studies as it provides multiple perspectives, previously unpublished sources, and relevant questions about how we know what we know about Native art of the Northwest Coast."<sup><sup>[ix]</sup></sup></blockquote>
== '''Background''': ==
Education: BA (Sussex); Dip. Soc. Anth., PhD (London).<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Townsend-Gault came to Canada in the late 1960s and held the position of Curator at the [[NSCAD University|NSCAD]]Mezzanine Gallery beginning in 1969.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>In 1973 Townsend-Gault returned to graduate studies at UCL for her doctoral degree, and subsequently took up a faculty position at UBC.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>Early curatorial work includes the exhibition ''There are No Limits''at the [[Beaverbrook Art Gallery]]<nowiki/>in Fredericton, focused on the work of Acadian artist Hermenegilde Chiasson.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Townsend-Gault has taken a collaborative approach to knowledge sharing around Indigenous cultural materials and practices, as witnessed in the extensive engagement of Indigenous artists and scholars as guest lecturers in her undergraduate and graduate seminars at UBC. Townsend-Gault continues to be involved as a guest lecturer with the Department of Anthropology seminar series at UCL.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
Townsend-Gault has been an active participant in her fields of interest, providing reviews for publications such as C Magazine, Vanguard, RACAR.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>Her research interests include: Twentieth century and contemporary art, 20th century official portraiture, aboriginal self-portraiture and other public and institutional representations of the social person.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (1 for 2)</ref>
== '''Selected Writing:''' ==
* Charlotte Townsend-Gault, Jennifer Kramer and Ki-Ke-In, ''Native Art of the Northwest Coast: A History of Changing Ideas''. Vancouver: UBC Press. 2013.
* 'My World is Surreal,' or 'The Northwest Coast' is Surreal. ''Journal of Surrealism and the Americas''Vol. 7, Iss. 1, (0, 2013): 96-107. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2v2wDD7>
* "Outside things inside: relative status on the Northwest coast." ''World Art''2, Iss. 1 (2012): 13-24. DOI:10.1080/21500894.2012.662174
* World art: a boundary issue. ''World Art''1, Iss. 1 (2011): 37-41. DOI:10.1080/21500894.2011.521635
* "Not a museum but a cultural journey: Skwxwu7mesh political affect." ''Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute''N.S. (2011): S39-S55.
* "Sea-lion Whiskers and Spray-crete: the affect of Indigenous status in contemporary British Columbia." ''Journal of Material Culture''16, no. 4 (2011): 416- 428. DOI: 10.1177/135918351142838.
* ''Carvings and Commerce: Model Totem Poles, 1880-2010.''Saskatoon, [[Mendel Art Gallery]]. Seattle and London: University of Washington Press, 2011.
* 'History Art: Nu.tka. 1996' in ''Stan Douglas: Past Imperfect – Works 1986-2007''Stuttgart (2007).
* "The Raven, the Eagle, the Sparrows, and Thomas Crow: Making Native Modernism on the Northwest Coast." In ''Native Modernism''. Smithsonian Institution, [[National Museum of the American Indian]], 2006.
* "[[Rebecca Belmore]]<nowiki/>and [[James Luna]]<nowiki/>on location at Venice: the allegorical Indian redux." ''Art History''Vol. 29, Iss. 4, (September 2006): 721-755. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2P9l9a2>
* 'Spectacular Disentanglement: A Talking Stick for the Pope' in ''Les cultures a l'oeuvre: Rencontres en art'', eds. Brigitte Derlon and Monique Jeudy-Ballini. Paris: Biro. 2005.
* "Ways of Knowing" (revised). In ''The Anthropology of Art.''Edited by Howard Morphy and Morgan Perkins. Oxford. 2005.
* Karen Duffek and Townsend-Gault, ''[[Bill Reid]]<nowiki/>and Beyond: Expanding on Modern Native Art''. Vancouver: Douglas & McIntyre. 2004
* "Circulating Aboriginality." ''Journal of Material Culture'', 9, No. 2 (2004): 183–202. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2uZT7ot>
* "Conceptual Daze At NSCAD – The Mezzanine." In ''Conceptual Art: The NSCAD Connection 1967-1973.''Edited by Bruce Barber. Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. 2001.
* "When the (Oven) Gloves Are Off: The Queen's Baton – Doing What to Whom." In ''Beyond Aesthetics: Art and the Technologies of Enchantment.''Edited by Nicholas Thomas and Christopher Pinney. Oxford. 2001.
* "First Nations Culture: Who Knows What?" ''Canadian Journal of Communication''23, No. 1 (1998). doi:<nowiki>http://bit.ly/2Pa5irR>
* "At the Margin or the Centre? – The Anthropological Study of Art." ''Reviews in Anthropology''27 (1998).
* "Let X = Audience," in ''Reservation X'', Canadian Museum of Civilization. 1998.
* "First Nations Culture: Who Knows What?" ''Canadian Journal of Communication''23 No. 1 (1998): 31. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2uZT8sx>
* "Art, Argument and Anger on the Northwest Coast." In ''Contesting Art: art, politics and identity in the modern world''. Edited by Jeremy MacClancy, 131-161. Oxford; New York: Berg. 1997.
* "Translation or Perversion? Showing First Nations Art in Canada," ''Cultural Studies''9, No. 1 (1995).
* "If Art is the Answer, What is the Question? – Some Queries Raised by First Nations' Visual Culture in Vancouver," ''RACAR: Revue d'art Canadienne/ Canadian Art Review'', 21 (1994): 1-2.
* "Northwest Coast Art: the Culture of the Land Claims," ''American Indian Quarterly'', 1994.
* "Symbolic Facades: Official Portraits in British Institutions Since 1920," ''Art History''11, No. 4 (1988).
== '''Selected Exhibitions:''' ==
* Curatorial team member, ''Witnesses: Art and Indian Residential Schools in Canada''(2013). [[Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery]], UBC.
* ''Backstory: Nuuchaanulth Ceremonial Curtains and the Work of Ki-ke-in''(2010) Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, UBC.
* ''Rebecca Belmore: The Named and the Unnamed''. Vancouver BC: Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery UBC, 2003. e-Artexte: <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2P9lae6>.
* ''Yuxweluptun: Born to Live and Die on your Colonialist Reservations''(1995); Morris and Helen Belkin Art Gallery, UBC.
* ''Land, Spirit, Power: First Nations at the National Gallery of Canada''(1992), National Gallery of Art (with Diana Nemiroff and Robert Houle).
== '''Conferences and Symposia''': ==
* Participant in Workshop on Heritage and Politics in 2003, a Wenner-Gren Foundation Symposia: <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2v7wgqN>
* 'Internal Exoticism: Maintaining Indigenous Status Distinctions in Contemporary British Columbia', for Appropriating the Exotic: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives. Sainsbury Research Unit, University of East Anglia. 2010. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2P6JjSG>
== '''Select reviews of her work''': ==
* Smetzer, Megan A. ''RACAR: Revue D'art Canadienne / Canadian Art Review''39, no. 1 (2014): 90-93. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2uZT8Zz>.
* Eyland, C. "The last art college: Nova scotia college of art and design, 1968-1978." ''Border Crossings''31 (Sep. 2012): 126-128. <nowiki>http://bit.ly/2P5Opi5>
* Bedford, C. "Brian Jungen." ''Artforum International''48, no. 8 (2010): 202-202.
* Moray, G. "TRICKSTER'S TURN: New books on bill reid." ''BC Studies''146 (2005): 93-100. http://bit.ly/2uZTa3D />
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