Tag: Indigenous

Visit—Àbadakone | Continuous Fire | Feu continuel

Àbadakone (Algonquin for “continuous fire”) is the second exhibition “in the National Gallery of Canada’s series of presentations of contemporary international Indigenous art, features works by more than 70 artists identifying with almost 40 Indigenous Nations, ethnicities and tribal affiliations from 16 countries, including Canada.”

According to the National Gallery, “the title Àbadakone was provided by the Elders Language Committee of Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg. They felt that its connotation of a fire within each artist that continues to burn would be an appropriate title for the second presentation of this ongoing series of exhibitions showcasing Indigenous art from around the world.”

Indigenous art and culture is drawing a lot of attention in Canada and other countries dealing with the history and ongoing impacts of colonization of the “New World” by European powers.

I found the exhibit exciting as it opens up a broad range of discussions that are important not only for Indigenous people, but for anyone who has an interest in place, identity, the construction and evolution of culture, and the importance of narrative for creating and bearing meaning. The introduction at the entry to the exhibit indicates that the broad theme behind its curation is one of “Relatedness, Continuity and Activation.” In brief, this refers to the interconnection of all things, the links across time and generations, and “how an artist animates a space, an object, or an idea through performance, video or viewer engagement.”

  • Between Dreams, by Eleng Luluan

  • Spanish Window, by Tracey Moffatt
  • K’ómoks Imperial Stormtrooper (Andy Everson), Citizen of the K’ómoks First Nation, 2017, by Will Wilson
  • CIPX series, by Will Wilson
  • A Light, a Shadow, by Poyón Fernando
  • Part of the installation, Teiakwanahstahsontéhrha’ We Extend the Rafters, by Skawennati
  • Nigik Makizinan – Otter Moccasins, by Barry Ace
  • But There’s No Scar?, by Catherine Blacxkburn

(All images taken on my cellphone.)

For me, there were several threads that ran through the exhibit, particularly the challenges of:

  • colonization;
  • industrialization;
  • globalization;
  • environmental degradation;
  • technology;
  • migration; and
  • tradition.

Without taking anything away from the specific issues and questions facing the Indigenous artists who created these works, it seems to me that many of the challenges are also faced by non-Indigenous people. As a result of the challenges I’ve listed above, very few of us can simply take for granted the place where we stand, the identities we have inherited, the histories that have shaped us or the futures that lie before us. In a time of profound uncertainties, it will be important to draw selectively on our knowledge of the past, on our best understanding of our times and on the most promising paths forward. It is fascinating to see that while Postmodernism rejected meta-narratives, we continue to need overarching stories to interpret the past, create meaning in the present and have hope for the future.

Àbadakone has given me a number of ideas for the theme / concept I would like to explore for C&N A5 (“Making it up”), and perhaps even an approach for realising my ideas. I see Indigenous artists opening long-overdue conversations and I think we will all do well to participate in them honestly.

ROTW Hangout—3/11/2019

Lynda (BC, Canada), Mark (New Zealand) and I have been meeting regularly for some time now and have branded ourselves as the “Rest of the World” (ROTW) Hangout. We all recognize the value of hangouts but don’t always find the other OCA meeting useful because of the differences in timezone. We had been hoping for more people to join us this time, given that 11 people had signed up. As it turned out, five participated—the usual three, plus Bob (UK) and Nuala (France).

No one had WIP to present, so I started things off by talking about my experience with the little exhibit I had on display in a local bistro for six weeks. I sold five of the 13 pictures I had on display, so I have effectively covered my costs and am quite please with that as a result.

I also mentioned some of my struggles around CAN A3’s self-portrait work and received some helpful suggestions from the group. I think Nuala’s work for this assignment (“Thou shalt not age”) was quite gutsy, so I may go back and look at it again.

Mark talked to us about his own prep work for CAN A3 and it sounds as though he will go the “absented-self” route. He is looking at doing it with reference to the Maori term Tūrangawaewae which indicates “the place where one has a right to stand.” Several of us made suggestions, based largely on our own experiences of being immigrants/foreigners in places where we live and the history of colonization. This will be an interesting piece to see develop.

Lynda is working through her Documentary course and having some difficulty in locating historical images of the area where she lives. I suggested that she might like to look at the National Archives collection online, check into the layers of meaning suggested by the original Indigenous place names, and also sent a link to some work done by Bonnie Devine that I found powerful during a visit to the Art Gallery of Ontario. Lynda also introduced us to the work of Diana Thorneycroft, which has a particular resonance for those familiar with Anglo-Canadian culture. I got a kick out of Thorneycroft’s humour and imagination at the service of serious subjects.

Nuala has completed a 2.4m dot-matrix scroll on the story of the Internet’s creation and is also thinking of creating a related video.

There was discussion around the relevance and outdated nature of some of the assigned readings and a concern that writing in the field is often more difficult to read than it needs to be. I think this is a common complaint about academic writing and can be put down to a few things: the occasional need and benefit of a specialized and technical vocabulary; bad writing habits; and the fact that the audience in mind is often other specialists/peers/people who control academic tenure. In other words, a broad readership is usually not in focus and, for some academics, not desired.

Bob made some good recommendations of printing paper, particularly for black and white (Pinnacle FibreGloss 320gsm) and the work of photographer Manuel Vasquez.

Mark agreed to host the next hangout in roughly a month’s time, to make sure we get it in before the holiday season starts.