Boarder X presents contemporary work by artists from Indigenous nations across Canada who surf, skate, and snowboard.

The exhibition reveals how these practices are vehicles to challenge conformity and status quo, as well as demonstrate knowledge and performed relationships with the land. Whether reading the urban terrain, making a cement jungle a playground, riding the natural contours of white immovable mountains, or shredding the ever-changing waves, it’s not about controlling land and water, but being humbled by their power.

Through painting, mixed media, carving, weaving, photography, performance, and video, the artists reflect cultural, political, environmental, and social perspectives, as well as critiques about the territories we occupy. The paintings present narratives and observations of traditions, movement, balance, and entanglements of space, place, and belonging. Mobilizing traditional histories, the artwork conceptually bridges the past and present with reinventions in carving, weaving, and performance. Video and photography capture the energy of boarding with unbridled motivation and physicality. The exhibition is an affirmation of cultural resilience and an acknowledgement of ongoing respect and reverence for the land.