It's absolutely crucial we forget the past

!leafs

The University of Manitoba is decolonizing its art collection, replacing problematic paintings and sculptures with contemporary Indigenous art.

"The university is ultimately a colonial institution that is designed to serve white people ... and that needs to change," said C.W. Brooks-Ip, registrar and preparator of the University of Manitoba Art Collection

One painting removed from the university president's office is a work by Lionel Stephenson, an artist living in Winnipeg between 1885 and 1892.

It's kind of depicting a 'We're over here and they're over there' type situation," Thomas said. "It's not showing community and togetherness.

Another is a sculpture of a buffalo hunt by Thomas Holland, an American artist and polo player. It portrays an Indigenous hunter riding a horse and spearing a buffalo.

While the depiction may be historically accurate, it wasn't created from an Indigenous perspective of cultural understanding,