by John Threlfall | Sep 6, 2022 | Alumni, Art History & Visual Studies, Events, indigenous, Visual Arts
How can art help develop strategies to heal the planet, heal the people and change culture? Find out at this free public talk by the Awinakola: Tree of Life Research Group from 3-4:30pm Sat Sept 10 in room A162 of UVic’s Visual Arts building.
This community presentation & discussion is in conjunction with the exhibition Still Standing: Ancient Forest Futures, running to Sept 17 at UVic’s Legacy Art Gallery downtown.
Join exhibit artists including MFA alum Rande Cook, Visual Arts professors Paul Walde & Kelly Richardson plus forest researcher Suzanne Simard (author of Finding the Mother Tree) & Ernest Alfred, Hereditary Chief of Tlowit’sis First Nation, elected leader of the ‘Namgis First Nation and leader of the Swanson Occupation. This discussion will be moderated by Still Standing exhibit curator Jessie Demers.
Awinakola: Tree of Life is a research group comprised of Indigenous knowledge keepers, scientists and and artists brought together by Makwala – Rande Cook, an artist and Hereditary Chief of the Ma’amtagila First Nation. By sharing cross-disciplinary research practices, the group seeks to develop strategies to heal the planet, heal the people, and change culture—starting with regeneration and preservation of threatened forest ecosystems in Kwakwaka’wakw territory through the confluence of Indigenous knowledge, scientific research, and the arts.
by John Threlfall | Sep 1, 2022 | Events, indigenous, School of Music, Theatre
Don’t miss this amazing chance to hear a free public discussion with award-winning Indigenous & two-spirit singer/musicologist Jeremy Dutcher (Tobique First Nation) from noon – 1:20pm Friday, Sept 9 in the Chief Dan George Theatre, Phoenix Building.
Joining the Polaris Prize and Juno Award-winning Dutcher for the discussion “Art, Truth and Memory” will be Ry Moran (UVic Libraries) Lindsay Delaronde (Audain Professor, UVic Visual Arts) and both Chaa’winisaks & Carmen Rodriguez de France (UVic Indigenous Education). Together, they will explore how the arts, archives and language can further the goals of Truth & Reconciliation.
Tickets are also still available for his performance at The Farquhar at UVic 7pm Friday, Sept 9.
A classically trained operatic tenor and composer who takes every opportunity to blend their Wolastoq First Nation roots into the music he creates, Dutcher blends their distinct musical aesthetics that shape-shift between classical, traditional, and pop to form something entirely new. Their debut release, Wolastoqiyik Lintuwakonawa, involved the rearrangement of early 1900s wax cylinder field recordings from his community.
“Many of the songs were lost because our musical tradition was suppressed by the Canadian government,” says Dutcher. “I’m doing this work as there’s only about a hundred Wolastoqey speakers left. It’s crucial that we’re using our language because, if you lose the language, you’re losing an entire distinct way of experiencing the world.”
