This circle brings together artist-scholars Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Cree/Halfbreed; German/Polish), Peter Morin (Tahltan and French Canadian), and Leah Decter (Jewish white settler) and curator-scholar Carla Taunton (white settler) to discuss the importance of, and our experiences with, durational non-transactional relational approaches in art and academic contexts. We are thinking of spaces where criticality and trust come together to expand meshworks that nurture uncomfort, insight, and creative innovation and vision to move beyond expectations and constraints in the work surrounding difficult knowledge and experience. This conversation is embedded in the ways art, through the artists-thinkers-makers-doers-writers-changers who make and present it, pushes against institutional hegemony to manifest otherwise practices that advance non-colonial approaches and bring institutional critique to fruition.