akâmi -
Duane Linklater, Ethel (Trapper) Linklater, Tobias Linklater and Grey Plumes
03 July - 21 September 2025
Photo: Rob Harris, Camden Art Centre
Camden Art Centre and New Curators are delighted to announce akâmi-, the first major UK institutional exhibition of Duane Linklater, an Omaskêko Ininiwak multimedia artist based in North Bay, Ontario, Canada.
Over the course of the year, the 2024-5 Fellows have collaborated with the artists, Camden Art Centre and each other to co-curate this major London exhibition which marks the culmination of the practical aspect of the New Curators programme.
Throughout this process, the Fellows are tasked with all aspects of exhibition-making; research, budgeting, exhibition design and public programming. New Curators will also publish a catalogue on the occasion the exhibition, featuring contributions from each of the 2024–5 Fellows. The publication will be available for purchase at Camden Art Centre and the South London Gallery.
About the Exhibition
akâmi- features a new ceramic commission created with Sugpiaq artist and choreographer Tanya Lukin Linklater, under the collective name Grey Plumes, a recent painting series and a sculptural sound installation. It also includes an installation acquired by Tate, but not yet seen in the UK, which incorporates a video by his son, Tobias Linklater and objects made by Linklater’s grandmother, Ethel (Trapper) Linklater borrowed from the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in Northern Ontario, confronting questions of ownership and the responsibilities that accompany it.
Through the exhibition, Linklater disrupts questions of authorship and ownership. The grouping of works and makers emphasises the importance of kinship and intergenerational transmission of knowledge and identity. Since presenting this installation involves borrowing Linklater’s grandmother’s belongings from the Thunder Bay Art Gallery in Northern Ontario, any borrowing and lending institutions are also confronted with questions of ownership and the responsibilities that accompany it.
“Duane Linklater’s practice embodies the spirit of New Curators – collaborative, inclusive and bold in re-imagining the role of institutions in contemporary art. With this exhibition, we invite audiences to engage critically and forge deeper connections with artistic practices that challenge conventions and open new dialogues”
akâmi- is curated by the 2024–5 New Curators fellows: Nailah Reine Barnes (USA), Kaitlyn Carril (USA), Mayara Carvalho (Brazil), Danni Cheng (Taiwan/Turkey), Alisha O’Brien Coker (UK), Jasmine Lee (Bermuda), Issra Marie Martin (Philippines/Canada), Tam Nguyen (Vietnam), Jagoda Witkowska (Poland), Satyam Yadav (India) and Ugbad Yussuf (UK).