The Museum of Anthropology (MOA) at UBC will present VALUE: Rebecca Belmore at the Museum of Anthropology from May 15 to October 19, 2025. The exhibition highlights four major works by Anishinaabe artist Rebecca Belmore, examining colonialism, capitalism, and Indigenous value systems.
Curated by Jeffrey Boone, a UBC Master’s student in Critical and Curatorial Studies, the exhibition explores how Belmore’s installations challenge conventional definitions of worth. “This exhibition speaks to the artist’s alternative system of value within her Indigenous community,” said Boone.
Two key works will be displayed in the Audain Gallery. Fountain (2005), originally shown at the Venice Biennale, features a video projection onto falling water and addresses our relationship to land and water. Wild (2001), a mixed media piece with beaver pelt and human hair, critiques colonial intrusion and includes a placard from Belmore’s 2010 protest declaring: “I AM WORTH MORE THAN ONE MILLION DOLLARS TO MY PEOPLE.”
A third work, Ayum-ee-aawach Oomama-mowan: Speaking to their Mother (1991), will arrive in July. The two-metre-wide wooden megaphone, created in response to the Oka crisis, invites people to speak to the land and will include audio from past activations.
Belmore, a member of Lac Seul First Nation, lives in Vancouver and was recently awarded the 2024 Audain Prize. Visitors to the exhibition will receive a fold-out brochure with a map, curatorial essay, and poster.
Last modified: April 10, 2025
