Lex V Battle, Ways Of Seeing, 2019

Lex V Battle, Ways Of Seeing, 2019

CURATOR: MARIA-MARGARETTA

SOMEPLACE WE USED TO GO: INDIGENOUS EXPERIMENTAL FILM SCREENING

ONLINE SCREENING + DISCUSSION /
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2020

7h30 PM :
Video program on YouTube Live 

8 PM :
Discussion on Zoom 

(links below)

Organized in collaboration with Centre CLARK and the Indigenous Curatorial Collective

With videos by Carrie Allison, Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ, Lex V Battle and seth cardinal dodginghorse.

Someplace We Used To Go is an Indigenous experimental film screening exploring Indigeneity in relation to land sovereignty and cultural practice. Carrie Allison, Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ, Lex V Battle, and seth cardinal dodginghorse consider place and ways of knowing; asking how our relationships with traditional practice and home shift according to lived experience, memory and ancestral histories.

At the intersection of destruction and creation exists a transformative space. There, these artists explore language, displacement and reclamation as acts of colonial resistance.
 
Following this program there will be a live panel discussion between filmmakers and curator Maria-Margaretta.

Video works will be presented via YouTube Live at 7h30 PM on CLARK's YouTube channel
Discussion will take place on Zoom at 8h10 PM by following this link

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Lex V Battle
Ways Of Seeing, 2019 (6 m 17 s)

Ways of Seeing explores relations with teachings on the land in conversation with urban spaces and extraction projects. Focusing on the destruction of the Peace River Valley through the construction of the Site C Dam, Lex V Battle speaks to the importance of respecting the land and, simultaneously, its original caretakers.

BIO: Born in a multicultural family near her home village of the Nisga’a nation, Gingolx. Lex explores her interests in the complexity of psychology and science as part of her practice in video creating, sound production, and writing. Her diverse visual language is engaged in an ongoing conversation with history, spirituality, and the human psyche.

Carrie Allison
Reading the Past, 2020 (2 m 26 s)
Tree rings can be read to help interpret the past, to see the harsh winters and long summers in the rings of the tree. These beings are our ancestors, telling us stories of the past and helping us interpret the future. I have beaded these rings to help build an understanding of them, to honour them and to show respect for them. Beading is a slow meditative practice that I hold dear to my heart. It is a practice that connects me to my ancestors, to my maternal history and family, and that grounds me in the relationships I want to prioritize in my life. Combining beading and animation slows the practice down even more. Every stitch is recognized through a still, an image. For those unfamiliar with the practice, beading is often seen as a stagnant object, one without movement. This short video seeks to share what I see when I view beadwork: the countless hours, the detailed movement of the beads, the planned path, and the patience of the gesture.

Miyoskamiki - when spring comes, 2020
The Prairie Crocus is one of the first signs of spring. My ancestors used to interpret these beings as indicators of the winter ending and to start planning for their move to the spring camp. My not-so-distant relatives interpreted the rise of the Prairie Crocus as a sign that planting season was not far away. We have lost touch with reading our landscapes, with listening to the beings around us telling us what’s coming. Miyoskamiki - when spring comes is a reminder that the earth still tells us what we need to know. I practice beadwork to think through and build connections through the slow gestural movement of tacking a stitch. I bead to connect with my ancestors and my maternal family, and to honour our relations in the plant and animal world.

BIO: Carrie Allison is a nêhiýaw/cree, Métis, and European-descent visual artist based in K’jipuktuk (Halifax, Nova Scotia). She grew up on the unceded and unsurrendered lands of the Sḵwxwú7mesh (Squamish), Stó:l ̱ ō and Səl ̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xwməθkwəyə̓m (Musqueam) Nations. Allison’s maternal roots are based in maskotewisipiy (High Prairie, Alberta), Treaty 8. She is an active member of the arts community and is currently Co-Chair of the Eyelevel Artist-Run Centre Board. Allison holds a Master of Fine Arts, a Bachelor of Art History, and a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University. Her work has been exhibited nationally at The Textile Museum of Canada, Toronto; Urban Shaman, Winnipeg; and Beaverbrook Art Gallery, New Brunswick. She has had solo exhibitions at Mount Saint Vincent University Art Gallery, the Owens Art Gallery, The Museum of Natural History, and The New Gallery. Allison has received grants from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, Arts Nova Scotia, and the Canada Council for the Arts, and is the recipient of this year’s Melissa Levin Award from the Textile Museum of Canada. Allison’s work has been featured in Canadian Art, Esse, and Visual Arts News.


Cheyenne Rain LeGrande
ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ
Cankipêhikan, 2020 (11 m 55 s)

Cahkipêhikan
Hidden underneath, is a gentle song
Rooted in language
A blue tear to take away the pain
I sing to my Mosum and Kokum
I sing with the strength of Cahkipêhikan
Cahkipêhikan is a performance based in language. I explore and move with Nehiyawewin. I sing with my ancestors. I sing a traditional song that was shared with me from the ever beautiful Carol Powder. I sing with the strength of Cahkipêhikan
Nanâskomtin ᑭᓇᓈᐢᑯᒥᑎᐣ

ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ

BIO: Cheyenne Rain LeGrande ᑭᒥᐊᐧᐣ is a Nehiyaw Isko artist from Bigstone Cree Nation. She currently resides in Amiskwaciy Waskahikan, also known as Edmonton, Alberta. Cheyenne graduated from Emily Carr University with a BFA in Visual Arts in 2019. Her work often explores history, knowledge, and traditional practices. Through the use of her body and language, she speaks to the past, present, and future. Cheyenne’s work is rooted in the strength to feel, express, and heal. Bringing her ancestors with her, she moves through installation, photography, video, sound, and performance art.

seth cardinal dodginghorse
Nisguya Chu, 2020 (6 min)

Utilizing Super 8 film, seth cardinal dodginghorse navigates his family's forced removal from their ancestral land for the construction of South West Calgary Ring Road. The footage, which was shot before and during the construction, demonstrates the cultural impact of this displacement. Revealing lived experience and family history, seth documents loss of agency due to ongoing colonial projects.

BIO: seth cardinal dodging horse is an experimental musician, cultural researcher, and multidisciplinary artist working within performance, printmaking, installation, sound, and video. He grew up eating dirt and exploring the forest on his family’s ancestral land on the Tsuu’tina nation. In 2014 he and his family were forcibly removed from their homes and land for the construction of the South West Calgary Ring Road. His work explores his family’s history and experiences of displacement.