TransWEB Publication Launch
Join art historian and IFRC member Rodrigo D’Alcantara along with the participating artists for the launch and roundtable discussion of this exciting publication, which is the culmination of the dissident contemporary art project TransWEB.
TransWEB: Building Dissident Platforms Through Virtuality (2024) is a digital publication organized by IFRC Graduate member and PhD Candidate Rodrigo D’Alcântara. It features essays by D’Alcântara and Brazilian transdisciplinary artists Dyó Potyguara, Romulo Barros, and Yná Kabê Rodríguez, Walla Capelobo and Sumé Aguiar. The authors were invited to discuss notions of transnationality, trans-culturalism, trans-species, transsexuality, among other plural ways of thinking about the practice of Brazilian dissident art in dialog with North American epistemologies. This publication emerges from TransWEB residency held at the SBC Gallery in 2022.
This event is a collaboration between Rodrigo d’Alcântara, A Pilastra Gallery, and SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art. The digital publication was supported by the Indigenous Futures Research Centre at Concordia University.
Location: SBC Gallery of Contemporary Art, Suite 507, 372 Sainte-Catherine St. W. [hybrid]
Date and Time: Wednesday, April 24, 2024, from 6-8 pm.
Indigenous Storytelling: A Dialogue on Animation with Nicolas Renaud and Neko Wong-Houle
The Indigenous Futures Research Centre (IFRC) is excited to co-present a panel at CUJAH’s conference, Unveiling Narratives: Exploring the Intersection of Art and Storytelling.
This panel brings together Professor Nicolas Renaud, filmmaker, installation artist, and Concordia Faculty member from the Huron-Wendat First Nation of Wendake, in conversation with artist and undergraduate student, Neko Wong-Houle, from the Blackfoot, Kainai First Nation, to discuss their respective artistic practices and the possibilities of using digital and analog animation as a tool for Indigenous storytelling. This panel will be moderated by the IFRC’s Research Coordinator, Hanss Lujan Torres.
Nicolas Renaud will discuss his film, Onyionhwentsïio’ (2022) (which means “Our wonderful land” in Wendat), an experimental animated short film on the path of a portage trail that reads as a commentary on Indigenous people having to carry the weight of a long-enduring legacy of colonial oppression.
Neko Wong-Houle will discuss their film Otanimm/Onnimm (Daughter/Father) (2020), a collaborative project between Wong-Houle and their father, Terrance Houle. Together, they present a work articulated around their deep connection to one another, lovingly exploring an Indigenous daughter/father story.
Location: The Jarislowsky Institute, EV 3-711, Concordia University, 1515 Ste. Catherine St. W.
Date and Time: Sunday, March 24, 2024, from 1-2 pm.
Artist Talk with Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie
The Indigenous Futures Research Centre (IFRC) is excited to join the FOFA Gallery in co-presenting an artist talk with Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie (introduced by Michelle McGeough).
𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙉𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝘿𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚 brings together films by Nancy Barić and Steven J. Yazzie, centering relationships with land and water. Alternating between documentary style representation and abstract imagery and sound, the two films explore issues of representation, ecology, and stewardship.
Location: FOFA Gallery, EV 1-715, Concordia University, 1515 Ste. Catherine St W.
Date and Time: Thursday, March 21, 2024, from 6-7 pm.
Indigenous Sisters in STEAM: Revital Software and Ekosi Studio in Dialogue
The Indigenous Futures Research Centre (IFRC) is thrilled to collaborate with the Just Feminist Technology and Scholarship Lab and cohost this virtual artist talk featuring two remarkable pairs of Indigenous sisters working at the intersection of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics (STEAM). This event will highlight the exciting work of Kahentawaks and Wannekerakon Tiewishaw, founders of Revital Software, and Keara and Caeleigh Lightning, founders of Studio Ekosi.
Revital Software is a small company that works with Indigenous communities to create interactive language revitalization software and Studio Ekosi uses narrative-driven games and animated films, to create moments of joy, worlds that spark wonder, and characters people see themselves in.
The Tiewishaw and Lighting sisters will speak about their work, challenges and aspirations as Indigenous women in STEAM, but also about their path to Indigenous language/culture revitalization and their relationship to software development and animated films as means to achieve their ambitions.
This event is co-sponsored by Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and will be moderated by IFRC co-director Prof. Jason Lewis. It is part of the 5th season of the Feminist and Accessible Publishing and Communications Technologies Speaker and Workshop Series Disrupting Disruptions, organized by Dr. Alex Ketchum.
PPIA: IFRC x daphne beads, perler/parler
Hosted by PPIA project manager Linda Grussani, this informal event aims at bringing together Indigenois scholars and art practitioners for an afternoon of beading and discussion with members of the daphne artist-run centre, including co-founders Skawennati and Hannah Claus.
PPIA: Panel on Indigenous Fashion
The Indigenous Futures Research Centre at Concordia University is launching an exciting new website on the promotion and protection of Indigenous arts. The launch will be followed by a panel on Indigenous fashion with designers Sage Paul, Tammy Beauvais, Nico Williams and Julie Grenier, moderated by PPIA/PPAA Project Lead, Dr. Heather Igloliorte.
Danielle Boyer Artist Talk on Indigenous Robotics
The Indigenous Futures Research Centre is excited to co-host Danielle Boyer alongside the Just Feminist Technology Lab to bring a virtual artist talk on Indigenous robotics.
Fulbright Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Knowledges at Concordia University
The cross-faculty Indigenous Futures Research Centre (IFRC) will host the Chair. The IFRC is located in the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology, and the Chair will have access to Milieux facilities as well as plentiful opportunities to interact with Concordia’s diverse research community. Concordia is known for its innovative approaches to Indigenous research, including hosting a number of large-scale programs that combine scholarly inquiry, creative production, and community engagement.
Concordia is looking for scholars who are grounded in Indigenous ways of knowing and can contribute Indigenous perspectives to their fields of study. Concordia welcomes scholars in all fields, including expressions of interest from knowledge keepers and artists who may not have the usual academic profile but have acquired their knowledge through a lifetime of experience and practice. Concordia seeks to highlight how Indigenous perspectives can help steer its institution as well as the larger community towards a more sustainable world.
Specializations: Indigenous knowledges as applied to diverse fields of study, including Indigenous studies, fine arts, public policy, as well as language and culture.