In this paper I consider whether, and if so how artistic creative uncertainty can facilitate processes of imagining new relationships between Indigenous peoples and settlers. Canada’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s model of reconciliation seems to promise improved Indigenous/settler relationships, yet many Indigenous scholars and allies question the efficacy of it as an approach to expedite relationship-building. For that reason, Indigenous critics like David Garneau suggest that alternate methods be deployed such as ‘decolonial aesthetic activism’ in order to build relationships that exceed the limits of reconciliation. Within this model, ambiguous, discordant, and indigestible artworks operate as one method by which we/settlers can become aware of how we are implicated in the structures of settler colonialism. I apply Garneau’s theory by conducting a close reading of the performative self-portraits by Meryl McMaster. My analysis reveals that art can put forward critiques of settler colonialism that unsettle assumptions, thereby creating new spaces for us to imagine worlds otherwise. Accordingly, I argue that McMaster’s art does have the potential to exceed the limits of reconciliation and conclude that critical engagement with her photographs is an important first step in the process that is decolonization, a process that exceeds the limits of reconciliation.

中文翻译：

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超越和解的极限：加拿大艺术家梅丽尔·麦克马斯特（Meryl McMaster）的作品中的“殖民主义审美行动主义”

在本文中，我考虑了艺术创造力的不确定性是否以及是否可以促进想象土著人民与定居者之间新关系的过程。加拿大的真相与和解委员会的和解模型似乎有望改善土著/定居者之间的关系，但是许多土著学者和盟友对这种方法作为加快建立关系的方法的有效性提出了质疑。因此，像大卫·加尼奥（David Garneau）这样的土著评论家建议采用替代方法，例如“殖民主义的审美行动主义”，以建立超越和解界限的关系。在这种模式下，模棱两可，不协调和不易消化的艺术品是一种方法，我们/定居者可以通过这种方法来了解我们如何牵涉到定居者殖民主义的结构中。我通过仔细阅读梅丽尔·麦克马斯特的表演性自画像来应用加尼奥的理论。我的分析表明，艺术可以提出对定居者殖民主义的批判，从而使假设不成立，从而为我们想象其他世界创造新的空间。因此，我认为麦克马斯特的艺术确实有可能超越和解的极限，并得出结论，与她的照片进行批判性交往是非殖民化过程中重要的第一步，非殖民化是超越和解极限的过程。