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In the ODD Gallery: Skawennati

January 28, 2021 @ 10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Skawennati | Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’
We Extend the Rafters

Children’s exhibition
December 22, 2020 – February 26, 2021

My name is Iotetshèn:’en, and I live on Earth—usually. Our planet is united under the Great Law of Peace. […] Earth has been attacked by more than one visitor from outerspace, and our harmonious way of life is being threatened. So for now, my home is this spaceship. We are travelling to the first meeting of the five nearest, friendliest planets in our galaxy. The goal of our mission is to create a union that will protect us from attacks and also help us share our very different knowledges. I have been invited on this historic voyage because I have a special power…

Thus begins The Peacemaker Returns, a futuristic saga set in 3025 yet firmly rooted in the ancestral Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) confederation story and featuring historical figures such as Tekanawí:ta, Jacques Cartier, and a president addicted to Twitter! This new machinima—an animation-style movie produced on the virtual reality platform Second Life—is the core of the children’s exhibition Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’ | We Extend the Rafters, designed specifically for kids aged 5 to 11 by Skawennati. Audiences of all ages are invited to (re)discover some traditions in the artist’s “museum of the future,” an original installation. A guided tour and a collective workshop in the form of an innovative board game will encourage young and mature viewers alike to (re)learn history from an Indigenous perspective and imagine how all people can contribute to the world of tomorrow, reminding us how History, like any other narrative, is a construction defined by those who tell it.

The Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’ tour benefits from the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec. This exhibition was produced in 2017 by VOX, centre de l’image contemporaine in partnership with Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and Obx Labs, with financial support from the Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, the Quebec Ministry of Culture and Communications and the City of Montreal under the Agreement on the Cultural Development of Montreal, as well as the Community Fund for Canada’s 150th.

BIOGRAPHY
Skawennati 
makes art that addresses history, the future, and change from an Indigenous perspective.  Best known for her machinimas—movies made in virtual environments—she also produces still images, sculpture and textile works.

Her pioneering new media projects include the online gallery/chat-space and mixed-reality event, CyberPowWow(1997-2004); a paper doll/time-travel journal, Imagining Indians in the 25th Century (2001); and TimeTraveller™(2008-2013), a multi-platform project featuring nine machinima episodes.  These have been presented in New Zealand, Hawaii, Ireland and across North America in major exhibitions such as “Now? Now!” at the Biennale of the Americas, and “Looking Forward (L’Avenir)” at the Montreal Biennale. Skawennati is represented by ELLEPHANT and her award-winning work is included in both public and private collections.

Born in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Skawennati holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, where she is based. She is Co-Director, with Jason E. Lewis, of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research network of artists, academics and technologists investigating, creating and critiquing Indigenous virtual environments. She also co-directs their Skins workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling and Digital Media. In 2015, AbTeC launched IIF, the Initiative for Indigenous Futures; Skawennati is its Partnership Coordinator.

www.skawennati.com

 

 

Image: Skawennati, Becoming the Peacemaker (Iotetshèn:’en), machinimagraph from The Peacemaker Returns, 2017. Courtesy of the artist.

Details

Date:
January 28, 2021
Time:
10:00 am - 5:00 pm
Series:
Event Category:

Organizer

Klondike Institute of Art & Culture (KIAC)
Phone
867-993-5005

Venue

ODD Gallery

Learn More About…


Artist In Residence Activities & Outreach

Artist in Residence activities include artist talks, studio tours, interactive events, and more.

Founded in 2001, in a partnership with Parks Canada, the KIAC Artist in Residence Program has welcomed over 300 talented artists, musicians and filmmakers to Dawson City from all regions of Canada and around the world. Our alumni include Sobey Art Award nominees, Western Canada Music Award winners, and prize-winning filmmakers from film festivals across the globe.

Check out the current Artists in Residence


Film Events

Film activities include film screenings, film selections, and more.

KIAC is proud to host an exciting roster of film screenings and film-related events throughout the year, such as the 48 Hour Film Challenge and Dawson City International Short Film Festival, numerous workshops, and other opportunities.


Exhibitions

Exhibition activities include gallery viewing hours, exhibition openings, artist talks, calls for submissions, and more.

ODD Gallery

The ODD Gallery, located in the Dënäkär Zho / KIAC building, presents a wide array of outreach programming including artist talks, openings, lectures, screenings, youth programs and other special events. Gallery programming fosters professionalism and appreciation of regional visual arts practice, and provides the community with exposure and access to a diverse range of contemporary visual arts practices and theories in a remote, northern setting.

Check out the current exhibition


Kids & Youth Programs

Kids & youth activities include: music lessons, art classes, dance classes, book readings, toddler classes, after-school programs.

Year-Round Programming

Kids and Youth (toddler to teen) programming ranges from music lessons (vocals, piano) to dance class (ballet, hip hop, and more), to hands-on workshops (pottery, screen-printing, animation and more) and is offered regularly throughout the year. KIAC strives to subsidize Kids & Youth programs as much as possible via grants and funding. Programming ranges from free Drop-Ins to registered weekly programs.

Youth Art Enrichment

Youth Art Enrichment is an annual four-day art program for Yukon youth hosted by the Klondike Institute of Art & Culture in Dawson City. Artistically-inclined youth ages 14 – 18 travel from across the Yukon to take part in intensive workshops led by professional artists. Students choose one of three mediums to study for the duration of the program, learning new skills, techniques, and ways to creatively make artwork for the world to see. The mediums change every year: we have offered printmaking, animation, painting, carving, stained glass, illustration, improv, and much more over the last two decades.

Learn more about Youth Art Enrichment


Performing Arts

Performing arts activities include: concerts, theatre and dance performances, open mics, radio broadcasts, special events, and more.

KIAC presents a year-round professional performing arts series in the beautiful second floor Ballroom that actively engages our community and provides inspiring performance opportunities for international, national, and regional artists in many disciplines. Our diverse programming includes jazz, classical, folk & roots, experimental, dance, theatre, and more.


Workshops

Workshops include: weekly drop-ins, registered programs, weekend workshops, and more.

KIAC presents a year-round schedule of educational opportunities ranging from drop in programs (pottery, screenprinting, seniors painting, concert band), to registered workshops (dance, music, film, visual art, craft, textiles, etc), to professional development opportunities for artists (grant writing, artwork documentation, etc).

Learn more about registration, upcoming courses, and outreach activities.