One-day art action supports Indigenous sovereignty

by | Jul 15, 2025 | Alumni, climate, Events, Faculty, indigenous, Research, Visual Arts

First it was taking an orchestra onto the surface of a glacier, then it was putting a glittering digital projection into the background of a Metallica video. Now, two University of Victoria art professors are using their unique creative talents to join over 100 people working to present an extraordinary day of art on the land — but they are not seeking an audience.

On July 24, Department of Visual Arts professors Paul Walde and Kelly Richardson will join Ma’amtagila artist Makwala-Rande Cook to present Ax’nakwala (Part 1) at the unpopulated traditional village site of Hiladi on the east coast of Vancouver Island. Translating as “growing endlessly in relation with the living planet,” Ax’nakwala will offer open-air performances and media installations to draw attention to the urgent need to save precious old-growth forest and return unceded lands to Indigenous stewardship.

If a tree sings in the forest 

The day begins with Paul Walde’s Forestorium, a new full-length, site-specific operatic performance addressing the primary forests of Vancouver Island and the challenges they face. Featuring 17 vocalists, 18 instrumentalists and a crew of 20 (including 5 camera operators and 3 audio recorders), Forestorium echoes Walde’s 2013 Requiem For A Glacier in both its creative audacity and environmental concerns.

“Forestorium will help raise awareness of the complexity of these old-growth forest ecosystems, which continue to be clearcut at an alarming rate,” says Walde. “From my work on Requiem I believe that art, because of its non-oppositional and experiential nature, can reach audiences and engage the media in different ways than science and traditional activism.”

After sunset, Kelly Richardson will project her large-scale video installation Origin Stories — famously used in the 2023 Metallica  video 72 Seasons and at galleries worldwide, but never before in BC — which uses a cosmic field of shimmering crystalline forms to visualize our sixth mass-extinction crisis, partially fueled by ongoing resource extraction in Ma’amtagila territory.

“For many years I’ve used art to encourage the public to ask urgent, crucial questions about what it is that we truly value as a species,” says Richardson. “Through this work, I try to speak with everyone, not just those who understand contemporary art or frequent galleries. Art can be a powerful tool to reach the whole of who we are as a species, connecting the head with the heart and inspire much-needed action.”

Makwala-Rande Cook, Land Claim

Former Audain Professor & event co-organizer dances

The day will also feature two performances by artist, hereditary chief and former UVic Audain Professor Makwala-Rande Cook. In the world premiere of Dance of the Fungi Kingdom: A Mycelial Odyssey in Ma’amtagila Territory, Cook will introduce a Kwakwaka’wakw dance for these fungal beings. He and dancers will then perform the Maʻamtagilaʻs origin story, the Dance of the Seagull, while covered with the sparkling imagery of Richardson’s Origin Stories. This cross-cultural collaboration calls for united work to protect all species — including humans — and their homes.

All this will be filmed and recorded for future gallery and theatrical exhibitions, including a possible Fall 2025 presentation in Victoria.

Ax’nakwala is presented by Hase’ — a collective comprised of Cook, Richardson and Walde along with artist and current UVic Audain Professor Lindsay Delaronde and curator Stephanie Smith — in partnership with the Awi’nakola Foundation and at the invitation of Ma’amtagila leaders. Ax’nakwala (Part 1) supports Ma’amtagila efforts to regain sovereignty of their territories under Crown law, stop ecologically harmful practices on their lands, and enact a conservation vision to care for both land and people.

The performances are part of the fifth annual Tree of Life Gathering, facilitated by the Awi’nakola Foundation in partnership with Indigenous Nations. At the invitation of the Ma’amtagila, the 2025 Tree of Life gathering will take place at their traditional village site of Hiladi, and will see Kwakwaka’wakw knowledge keepers, artists, scientists, students, NGO representatives, policy makers and other community members gather to build relationships, share knowledge, and seek paths to larger-scale action.

Music professor Lauren McCall keen to extend realities

by | May 28, 2025 | Faculty, Research, School of Music

Lauren McCall (photo: Shannel Resto)

When it comes to attracting new talent to our faculty, national borders are no barrier. Hailing from Atlanta, Georgia, Lauren McCall is the newest professor to join our School of Music faculty.

Music technology a draw

An assistant research professor in composition and music technology since January 2025, McCall says she was initially intrigued by both UVic’s natural and academic environments. “I was really interested in seeing another part of the world, and I love the School’s combination of music composition and music technology . . . that’s still a pretty new thing for music schools to offer.”

With areas of interest ranging from traditional composition to extended reality interactive systems plus music & computer science educational platforms, McCall received her PhD in music technology from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her MFA in Music Composition from the Vermont College of Fine Arts. She’s had her own compositions performed around North America and Europe — some of which you can listen to on her website.

McCall says she was aware of UVic though the reputation of faulty members like George Tzanetakis (music & computer science) and Christopher Butterfield (composition), both of whom had connections with her own professors at Georgia Tech and Vermont College. “I got a really good vibe from that,” she says. “And then when I was interviewing, there seemed to be a real openness to trying new things — like laptop orchestras — so it seemed like a good fit with my own background and research.”

Extending reality

Laptop orchestras and extended reality technologies are of particular interest to McCall.

“With laptop orchestra, I like to build systems where people have non-immersive interactive systems on their computers to interact with other ensemble members through a cloud-based connection . . . it provides a lot of collaborative opportunities for ensembles with composers or even just creating new arrangements of classic music pieces,” she explains. “It could be just like a musical ensemble: you may have a group of four laptops over here and four over there but they have completely different parts and they play music together like they’re an orchestra — it’s really cool!”

While she embraces the future of music technology, McCall says she did come from a traditional background, playing and teaching clarinet, piano and saxophone. “I studied a lot of jazz and classical music, but in college I had opportunities to help teach laptop orchestra classes and create pieces for them,” she says.

Her work in extended realities includes virtual and augmented realities. “Sometimes I’ll build systems where people have VR headsets and they’re immersed in a virtual space, or have augmented reality on their phone and will use a digital overlay to interact with what they see through their camera in the real world,” she explains. “Or maybe we develop an application where the phone is your instrument and your sound design is based on interactions with the digital elements  . . . the range of possibilities are just endless.”

With UVic’s combined music and computer science program facing increasing demand, McCall feels access to technology and software are opening more doors than in the past. “Having a laptop isn’t such a barrier as it used to be and there’s so many different programming options: there’s both free and paid programs, online digital audio workstations . . . even social media includes sound-designing and video-editing tools now.”

She’s even hoping to conquer the learning barrier traditional music students sometimes face. “In music & computer science classes, students are always happy to tinker and test stuff out, but composition students tend to be a bit more hesitant. Sometimes they think it’s not for them or that it’s wrong to make mistakes, but the more we engage with these technologies the more people will be comfortable with them. It’s just about adjusting assignments so people don’t feel left out.”

Reflections on her first semester

Having just completed her first semester teaching courses in both composition and music & computers, McCall says some of her highlights included attending the School of Music’s student composer concerts and the annual West Coast Student Composers Symposium (featuring students from UVic, UBC and SFU), as well as getting out of the Music wing to enjoy the year-end BFA exhibit in Visual Arts and discover more of Vancouver Island.

“I enjoyed meeting my colleagues, working with students and getting to know UVic,” she concludes. “I’m looking forward to collaborating with people in the community and enjoying what the students and other professors are creating here.”

Hidden networks spark ONC artistic residency

by | May 22, 2025 | Award, climate, Graduate, Research, Visual Arts

From the human body’s neural connections to unseen water channels sustaining life in arid landscapes, the mysterious nature of invisible systems has always fascinated artist Parvin Hasani. “Hidden networks have always sparked my imagination and fueled my exploration of the intersections between art and science,” she says.

A Master’s student in UVic’s Visual Arts department, Parvin will soon be exploring deep-sea hydrothermal vents as the sixth Fine Arts graduate student selected for the Ocean Networks Canada ArtScience Fellowship. “My artistic practice began with exploring the idea of hidden networks,” she says.

After exploring the connection between neural networks and human memory for her Bachelor’s degree in Iran, Parvin then came to UVic to develop sculptural interpretations of ecological networks during her grad studies. “I was inspired by the idea of hidden water-management systems in Iran — where we have a thousand wells dating back more than 3,000 years that are all connected to each other beneath the earth — so focusing on water is part of my practice as well,” she says.

Exploring metaphoric parallels

All of that will come together this summer as Parvin explores the creative connections between memory, body and the environment through her conceptual sculptural practices. Specifically, she intends to use ONC’s oceanographic research on the Endeavour Hydrothermal Vent Field — an active, mineral-rich environment on the deep-sea Juan de Fuca Ridge — to draw metaphoric parallels between the rhythms of the ocean and the processes of the human body.

“It was interesting when I found out the hydrothermal vents looked like clustered chimneys, because visually they were similar to the wells in Iran,” she says. “I’m looking forward to learning about their surface texture and colour palette, because material exploration is a big part of my work. Researching the vent field data will also help me create my installation . . . scientific research has always informed my creative process—for example, during my undergrad, I created sculptures inspired by the structures of neurons, exploring how form carries meaning.”

By drawing on ONC’s research, Parvin’s sculptural installations will explore how unseen forces sustain both marine life and human experience, linking oceanic and bodily systems that shape identity and memory.

“Just as superheated, mineral-rich water rises from the seafloor, memory often lies beneath consciousness, waiting to surface,” she explains about the concept behind her residency. “This extreme ecosystem will be mirrored in sculptures embodying the rhythms of both the ocean and the body.”

September exhibition planned

With her ONC residency running May through August 2025, Parvin expects to have an exhibit and public presentation ready for early September. As a newcomer to Vancouver Island, Parvin is also excited to learn more about our coastal environments.

“The ocean has always been mysterious to me,” she says. “It’s kind of an unknown place that plays with the duality between surface and depths . . . I really wanted to explore how much the vastness of the of the water can inspire me to explore and push the boundaries of my work.”

Read about our previous Fine Arts graduate student ONC artistic residencies: Megan Harton, Neil Griffin, Colin Malloy, Dennis Gupa and Colton Hash,

Orion Lectures: Jerry Ropson Artist, Writer, Educator, Community Organizer

by | Mar 10, 2025 | Art History & Visual Studies, Events, Orion Series in Fine Arts, Research, Visual Arts

The Orion
Lecture Series in Fine Arts

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:

Jerry Ropson


Artist, Writer, Educator, Community Organizer

7:30 pm Wednesday , March 26
Room A162, UVic’s Visual Arts Building

Free & open to all
Presented by UVic’s Visual Arts Department.
For more information, please email visualarts@uvic.ca

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts is pleased to present Jerry Ropson, Visiting Artist. All are welcome to attend this free event.

 

“Preface for a Liturgy (Blood Ledger)”, 2021
Site-specific video installation with hand-sewn textiles, carpenter pencils & brass plumb bobs. Photo by Brian Ricks

ABOUT THE ARTIST

 Jerry Ropson is an artist, writer, educator and community organizer raised in the Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland) outport re-settlement of Pollards Point. In acknowledging the settler and indigenous history of his community, he combines images, objects, text and narrative to focus an artistic practice within site-specific installation and performative storytelling. Having exhibited throughout Canada and abroad, he makes class-conscious work often seeking non-traditional sites and outcomes. 

Ropson holds a BFA (2001) from Memorial University: Grenfell Campus, and an MFA (2009) in Studio Arts: Fibres and Material Practices from Concordia University. Ropson was listed for the Sobey Art Award in 2016 and 2018. He has been awarded grants from The Canada Council for the Arts, The New Brunswick Art Board, The Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, and The Newfoundland and Labrador Arts Council. He has participated in artist residencies at The Banff Centre, The Atlantic Centre for the Arts, St. Michael’s Printshop, Fogo Island Arts, NSCAD University, and Union House Arts. Ropson divides his time between rural communities in Ktaqmkuk, and Mi’kma’ki (Sackville, New Brunswick), where he teaches in the Department of Fine Arts at Mount Allison University.

Free and open to the public | Find more at www.events.uvic.ca

For more information on this lecture, please email visualarts@uvic.ca

About the Orion Fund

Established through the generous gift of an anonymous donor, the Orion Fund in Fine Arts is designed to bring distinguished visitors from other parts of Canada—and the world—to the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Fine Arts, and to make their talents and achievements available to faculty, students, staff and the wider Greater Victoria community who might otherwise not be able to experience their work.

The Orion Fund also exists to encourage institutions outside Canada to invite regular faculty members from our Faculty of Fine Arts to be visiting  artists/scholars at their institutions; and to make it possible for Fine Arts faculty members to travel outside Canada to participate in the academic life of foreign institutions and establish connections and relationships with them in order to encourage and foster future exchanges.

Visit our online events calendar at www.events.uvic.ca

Indigenous research and community springs from arts lab

by | Feb 27, 2025 | Art History & Visual Studies, Award, climate, Faculty, Graduate, indigenous, News, Research, Visual Arts

From left: Heather Igloliorte with Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab staff Chris Mockford & Natalie Rollins

There’s a new Indigenous arts research space at the University of Victoria (UVic) that is looking up—way up—to the arts of the circumpolar region, as well as all along the Pacific shoreline and from Alaska to New Zealand, with Victoria at the center of it all.

The Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab is the latest project by Heather Igloliorte, UVic’s inaugural Canada Excellence Research Chair (CERC) in Decolonial and Transformational Indigenous Art Practices, based in the Faculty of Fine Arts. Igloliorte’s prestigious eight-year, $8-million position is advancing reconciliation through the transformative power of art and innovative exhibition practices, and is supporting a new generation of students, researchers, educators, curators and artists to drive change through artistic practice.

“Indigenous people don’t necessarily have access to the same cutting-edge technologies that others do, just like they lack access to museums and galleries in the North,” says Igloliorte.

The development of digital and media-arts skills is one main area that will help remove these barriers by putting innovative tools—like augmented and extended reality—into the hands of students and artists alike. “They can experiment and see if they’re interested in bringing their current practices into a media art space … The potential is there for people to grow in exciting new directions.”

As such, the Taqsiqtuut Research Creation lab is addressing the key pillars of Igloliorte’s CERC: not only these practical digital skills but also the creation of exhibitions, the training and mentoring of students and youth, and the development of new policies and best practices for institutions that engage with Indigenous art and artists.

See the lineup & RSVP for the Feb 28 launch event here, including a 1pm welcome and panel discussion, a 3pm film screening and the 5-7pm installation walk-through and demonstration.

Listen to this interview with Heather Igloliorte on CBC Radio’s All Points West on February 27.

The “qiaqsutuq” installation on view at the opening of the Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab,
curated by Heather Igloliorte, Alysa Procida & Carla Taunton

Designing new collaborations

Open to students and Indigenous members of the artistic community, as well as visiting artists and artistic residencies (plus other community members by invitation), the Taqsiqtuut lab is named after the Inuktitut word for patterns and designs, which suits Igloliorte’s intention of providing a training and mentorship space at the intersection of both customary and digital practices.

“In the past, I’ve worked with artists who’ve learned how to take their beadwork practice and turn it into stop-motion animation, for example, or to take their work on the land and then translate that into a VR or an augmented reality film or project,” explains Igloliorte. “But it can also go the other way: we work with artists with a lot of training in digital or media practices who are now thinking about translating their work into a land-based practice, or an intangible heritage project.”

Currently run by a diverse mix of five (including faculty and staff, plus post-doctorate, graduate and undergraduate students), the lab is in the process of building up a technological library of project-based digital tools.

“We’ll keep building as we go,” says Igloliorte. “For a stop-motion project, we’ll invest in stop-motion technology, and when we work with seamstresses on an Indigenous customary clothing pattern-making workshop, then we’ll purchase a pattern-imaging device. “We also have a high-end video and media arts editing suite and a digital media arts technician who’s here to help students and community members realize their own far-ranging projects.”

Carey Newman demonstrates his Witness Blanket VR project to a visitor
during the launch of the Taqsiqtuut Research-Creation Lab on Feb 28 

Championing research creation

Officially opened on Feb. 28 with an afternoon of panel discussions, art installations, project demonstrations and a film screening, the lab showcased dynamic emerging digital media projects. The Witness Blanket VR by UVic’s Impact Chair in Indigenous Art Practices and Visual Arts professor Carey Newman—which transitions a Winnipeg-based, reconciliation-focused sculptural installation into a virtual reality program accessible by anyone with a virtual reality rig—was also featured.

The Taqsiqtuut lab launch will also mark the conclusion of one of Igloliorte’s research projects centering on promoting and protecting Indigenous arts, culminating in a panel discussion with a local focus on the appreciation and appropriation of Northwest coast arts.

Previously a Tier 1 University Research Chair at Concordia University, where she co-led the Indigenous Futures Research Centre in the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, Igloliorte is now excited to be creating an Indigenous research-creation lab here at UVic.

“This space is unique in many ways because of the areas we’re approaching with the CERC and the work that we’re doing,” she explains. “I’ve seen a lot of amazing arts-based technological labs, and I’m excited to partner with other institutions.”

One of these partnership projects is Qiaqsutuq, a multimedia sculptural installation which offers an Inuit perspective on climate change, as told Greek-chorus style from the perspectives of five gigantic Arctic animals or beings. It was produced with the Centre for Inter-media Arts and Decolonial Expression at Halifax’s NSCAD University—which is co-led by Leah Decter and Tahltan artist Peter Morin (who collaborated on UVic’s Big Button Blanket project back in 2014)—and which will engage another of her CERC partners, Western University’s Center for Sustainable Curating.

Igloliorte feels UVic—and Victoria specifically—is an ideal location for the Taqsiqtuut lab.

“Victoria is nestled at the center of both the Pacific and the North, from the west coast of North America on up to Alaska, then across the Arctic and around the circumpolar world, but also over to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand and Samoa,” she says. “I have a large network of colleagues and artists I’ve been working with for a long time—partners who are working and thinking across Indigenous cultures, and learning from each other in order to move towards this place of transformation and decolonization.”

Curating the future

In addition to maintaining her international partnerships and establishing the Taqsiqtuut lab, Igloliorte also carries a teaching load with the Visual Arts department and supports various community projects, such as jurying the Salt Spring National Art Prize and the Yukon Art Prize, and curating Newfoundland’s international Bonavista Biennale—all of which is part of her robust CERC position.

She will also host a UVic conference in May 2025 for all the stakeholders who contributed to her CERC application. “It will be a big international gathering of Indigenous scholars and museum directors, plus curators, artists and community members,” she says. “We’re coming together to make plans for publications, exhibitions, mentorships, public engagements and policy documents.”

Heather Igloliorte’s multifaceted and interdisciplinary work aligns with UVic’s commitment to ʔetal nəwəl | ÁTOL,NEUEL, as well as commitments to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals focused on quality education, decent work, economic growth, reduced inequalities and peace and justice.

The “qiaqsutuq” installation was created by Jamesie Fournier (Nunavummiut/Yellowknife), Erin Ggaadimits Ivalu Gingrich (Koyukon Denaa & Inupiaq/Anchorage), Colo Lyne (Kalaaleq Greenlandic/Denmark), Malayah Maloney (Nunavummiut/Vancouver) and Taqralk Partridge (Nunavummiut/Ottawa), and curated by Heather Igloliorte (Nunatsiavummiut/Victoria), Alysa Procida (Settler/Toronto) & Carla Taunton (Settler/Halifax)

Orion Lectures: Michelle Chawla

by | Feb 24, 2025 | Art History & Visual Studies, Events, Graduate, Orion Series in Fine Arts, Research, School of Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, Writing

The Orion
Lecture Series in Fine Arts

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:

Photo: Christian Lalonde

Michelle Chawla 

Director & CEO, Canada Council for the Arts

A Facilitated Conversation

4:00 pm Thursday, March 13
Philip T Young Recital Hall, MacLaurin B-Wing 
 
Free & open to all

Presented by UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts

For more information, please email fineasst@uvic.ca

Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts is pleased to present Michelle Chawla, Director and CEO of Canada Council for the Arts. All are welcome to attend this free event.

ABOUT THE TALK

We are excited to present this special facilitated conversation with Michelle Chawla, current Director and CEO of Canada Council for the Arts, hosted by Visual Arts chair Megan Dickie and organized by Dr. Allana Lindgren, Dean of Fine Arts.

As the political landscape continues to fragment, Michelle Chawla feels it’s time to stop talking about an “arts crisis” and tell its impact story instead: $60 billion in GDP contributions, 850,000 cultural jobs nation-wide and an enviable legacy as cultural ambassadors worldwide. Given the current economic and political context, both here at home and south of the border, there’s never been a more important time to highlight the impact and relevance of the diverse and vibrant Canadian arts scene.

While at UVic, Michelle Chawla will also be speaking with local arts leaders, faculty members, university colleagues and attending performances in both Theatre and the School of Music.  

You can watch a recording of the talk here: 

 

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR

Michelle Chawla has led the Canada Council for the Arts as Director and CEO since June 2023. Under Michelle’s leadership, the organization ensures that almost 90% of its annual government funding goes directly to the arts sector. This includes support to over 3,500 artists and over 1,900 arts organizations in 2,171 communities across the country, whose work strengthens the economy, fosters unity and a sense of belonging, and inspires new perspectives. 

With nearly 30 years in the field of public arts and culture funding, Michelle has extensive leadership expertise in public policy, inter-governmental relations, governance, corporate communications, and major transformation initiatives. Prior to her appointment, she was the Director General of Strategy, Public Affairs and Arts Engagement, responsible for the executive leadership and direction of a wide range of functions, including communications, strategic planning, research, international coordination, and cultural diplomacy. She was also previously Secretary-General for the Canadian Commission for UNESCO. 

Michelle is fluently bilingual and comes from a Québécois and Punjabi background. 

She is deeply committed to making sure the arts are a vibrant part of Canadians’ lives in communities big and small, rural and remote, urban and suburban, from coast to coast to coast. 

About the Orion Fund

Established through the generous gift of an anonymous donor, the Orion Fund in Fine Arts is designed to bring distinguished visitors from other parts of Canada—and the world—to the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Fine Arts, and to make their talents and achievements available to faculty, students, staff and the wider Greater Victoria community who might otherwise not be able to experience their work.

The Orion Fund also exists to encourage institutions outside Canada to invite regular faculty members from our Faculty of Fine Arts to be visiting  artists/scholars at their institutions; and to make it possible for Fine Arts faculty members to travel outside Canada to participate in the academic life of foreign institutions and establish connections and relationships with them in order to encourage and foster future exchanges.

Visit our online events calendar at www.events.uvic.ca