Abstract

This thesis examines socially-engaged art by Japanese-Canadian artist Ayumi Goto and Korean-Canadian artist Jin-me Yoon, whose works consider issues of identity within the settler colonial context of Canada. Using the title question as a point of departure, this thesis examines how Goto and Yoon consider ideas of indebtedness and relationality in their practices. I argue that their works are conduits for the observer to reflect on their own place on Indigenous land. This thesis examines how their artworks and practices reflect their connection to place through their distinct, self-described identities and tackles thorny questions about how racialized settlers inherit legacies of colonialism. Further, I explain how that informs their relationship with Indigenous peoples and lands, and how doing so creates a new understanding of ‘multiculturalism’ in Canada. Drawing from settler-colonial discourse and decolonial theory, this thesis focuses on Asian-Indigenous relationality as a case study for exploring the complexities of relationality and settler responsibility in the arts in Canada. This thesis is structured in three sections: the first section considers the current state of Canadian nationality, in tune with critiques offered by theorists concerned with possible alternatives to the concept of nationhood. The second section offers background on settler responsibility and discusses gestures of respect and indebtedness. The third section reflects on relational histories and how Asian-Indigenous relationalities affect Goto and Yoon’s practices. Ultimately, this thesis will argue that Goto and Yoon’s works are conduits for the observer to reflect on their place on Indigenous land and, in doing so, hold the potential for healing relationships through an embodied arts practice.