Other than a few anecdotes focusing on Turner’s eccentric ways and his reclusive habits, relatively little personal information is known about one of Britain’s most acclaimed painters—recognized by leading English art critic John Ruskin (1819–1900), as the artist who could “most stirringly and truthfully measure the moods of nature.”

Piecing together a solid regionalist identity is a tall order these days. Theorist and former Tate Britain curator Nicolas Bourriaud describes today's artists as "cultural nomads," creating work that responds to borderless issues of commercialism and standardization.

An interview with Cesar Lopez, one of the artists in Sakàhan: International Indigenous Art, on view at the National Gallery of Canada until 2 September 2013.

An interview with Sonny Assu, one of the artists in Sakàhan: International Indigenous Art, on view at the National Gallery of Canada until 2 September 2013.