A woman in a red shirt walks past display cases filled with items on a checkered blue and yellow floor, with slatted walls and track lighting in the background.
Union Gallery

Hosted by

Union Gallery

About this event

Buy BACK by Nico Williams | Silent Auction

Pick-up location

101 Union Street, First Floor Stauffer Library, Queen's University, Kingston ON K7L 5C4


Buy BACK mat item
Buy BACK mat
$500

Starting bid

Donated by the artist, Nico Williams’ blue and black Buy BACK mat appeared his 2025 pawn shop-inspired installations at Centre PHI (BINGO!) and Union Gallery (Loan Stars: Beading Back our Manidoo).


Manufactured to add character to the installation, the mat's message is one of cultural reclamation—a nod to Nico's practice of purchasing undervalued ancestral works (bandoliers, baskets, quilts, and beadworks) by artists-once-known, and displaying them with care alongside contemporary artworks by many incredible living Indigenous artists from across Turtle Island. 


Funds raised from the silent auction will directly support artist fees for Union Gallery’s annual exhibition highlighting contemporary Indigenous artists local to the Katarokwi-Kingston area, hosted each year in partnership with Agnes Etherington Art Centre and Queen's University's Office of Indigenous Initiatives. Visitors can look forward to the 5th annual exhibition this September!

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