France Trépanier is a visual artist, curator and researcher. Her practice is often informed by strategies of collaboration and community engagement. Her artistic and curatorial work has been presented in many venues in Canada, the US and Europe. Her artworks are included in various public and private collections, including the Museum of Civilization in Quebec, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria and The Indigenous Art Centre at Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada (CIRNAC).
France was part of the first International Indigenous Curators Exchange in Australia, New Zealand and the 2017 Venice Biennale. She was the co-recipient of the 2012 Inaugural Audain Aboriginal Curatorial Fellowship by the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria. She co-authored with Chris Creighton-Kelly Understanding Aboriginal Art in Canada Today: a Knowledge and Literature Review for the Canada Council for the Arts. Her essays and articles have been published in numerous journals and magazines.
France is co-director of the Primary Colours/Couleurs primaires initiative. She worked as an arts consultant with a wide range of institutions and organisations such as the National Arts Centre, National Film Board, Cultural Human Resources Council, Banff Centre for the Arts, First Peoples Cultural Council, Indigenous Performing Arts Alliance, OCAD University, Yukon Arts Centre, and BC Museums Association.
She worked at the Canada Council for the Arts before becoming a Senior Arts Policy Advisor for the Department of Canadian Heritage. She held a diplomatic post as First Secretary, Cultural Affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Paris. She directed the Centre for New Media at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris. France was also the co-founder and Director of the artist-run center Axe Néo-7 in Gatineau, Quebec. France is of Kanien’kehà:ka and French ancestry.
France TrÉpanier
Photo Credit: Natalia Balcerzak, Vilk Studio, 2022