In 1987, Denesuline artist Alex Janvier titled this brilliant abstract painting Papal Visit to Fort Simpson after Pope John Paul II’s visit to the remote island village in the Northwest Territories. The event was originally planned for three years earlier, when the Dene Nation petitioned for a visit as part of a 1984 Canadian papal tour, but thick fog prevented the pope’s plane from landing. Returning in 1987, he addressed thousands traveling from near and far, affirming the right of Indigenous Peoples to “a just and equitable measure of self-government, along with a land base and adequate resources necessary for developing a viable economy for present and future generations.”[1]

Janvier’s painted response to the visit is charged with abundance and optimism, despite deep wounds still felt from the Church-run residential school system he himself experienced. Typically spare, the work’s background is here filled with concentric moss-coloured outlines of his signature winding biomorphic forms, creating a pulsating, psychedelic effect. Janvier captures the brimming spirit of the people, land and water felt that day on the shores of the Mackenzie River with his kaleidoscopic vision of an interconnected world.

1. John Paul II, “Meeting with the Indigenous Peoples in Canada” [speech], September 20, 1987, https://www.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/speeches/1987/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19870920_indigeni-fort-simpson.html.

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