ebb and flow

This curated public installation by GLAM Collective showcases the media and performance based work of six national and international Indigenous artists. This compilation of artists explores the longstanding role of technologies (past and present) in the transmission of Indigenous knowledges. ebb and flow considers how artists engage with technologies to transform performance, customary practices, and design as carriers of intergenerational knowledge. Logan McDonald (Mi’kmaw, Ktaqamkuk [Newfoundland]), Allison Akootchook Warden ( Iñupiaq, Alaska), Kaaterina Kerekere (Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngai Tamanuhiri and Ngai Tahu), Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa and Te Āti Awa), Amrita Hepi (Bundjulung and Ngāpuhi), and Couzyn Van Heuvelen (Inuit, Nunavut) engage with the curatorial focus of embodied materialities and land- and water- based knowledges. They consider how the technologies and materials they use in their art making- whether that be ash, beads, video, sound, and so forth - are embodied and are connected to the land and ocean, as well as to the sharing of histories, stories, memories, lived experiences and knowledges. This spotlight curatorial project also draws on the curatorial theme for Nocturne 2020 of Echolocation - the use of sound waves and echoes to determine where objects are in space. Here, the notion of echolocation is considered in relation to Indigenous embodied knowledges about land and water, as located in objects, materialities, sound, languages, and songs.

ARTIST BIOS:

Logan MacDonald (Mi’kmaw, Ktaqamkuk [Newfoundland]) is a queer artist, writer, educator and activist of European and Mi’kmaq ancestry. Born in Summerside, Prince Edward Island, his Mi’kmaq ancestry is connected to Elmastukwek, Ktaqamkuk. MacDonald holds a MFA in Studio Arts from York University and a BFA in Interdisciplinary Studies from Concordia University. In 2019, MacDonald was longlisted for the Sobey Art Award and was honoured with a six-month residency at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien in Berlin. He is currently Vice-Chair of the Aboriginal Curatorial Collective and an Assistant Professor of Indigenous Arts at the University of Waterloo.

Allison Akootchook Warden ( Iñupiaq, Alaska) is an Iñupiaq installation artist born in Fairbanks, Alaska with close ties to Kaktovik, Alaska. Through rap and performance, Warden engages her audience with stories and themes of the Iñupiaq people, paying homage to tradition while bringing a fresh perspective to contemporary issues. Warden raps under the name AKU-MATU, an abbreviation of two of her Iñupiaq names, Akootchook and Matumeak. Warden’s work has been recognized through many residencies and awards, including the Alaska Governor’s Award for the Arts and Humanities and a grant from the Art Matters Foundation. Most recently, Warden was a recipient of a 2019 US Artists Fellowship.

Kaaterina Kerekere (Te Aitanga a Hauiti, Ngai Tamanuhiri and Ngai Tahu) Kaaterina Kerekere is primarily a digital artist working in the graphic design and animation fields. She also works within the painting and fine metal adornment disciplines, regularly moving between media to challenge and reinforce concepts of the transition, innovation and interpretation of traditional knowledge and learning. Alongside artist and designer Tai Kerekere, she runs KE Design, a creative art and design consultancy specializing in Maori design. Kerekere is a recent recipient of a Creative New Zealand Scholarship supporting her placement in the 2020 Leadership New Zealand cohort.

Kereama Taepa (Te Arawa and Te Āti Awa) is a multidisciplinary artist of Te Arawa and Te Āti Awa descent. Taepa’s involvement in the arts has been broad and varied, including being a bronze technician at the Dibble Arts Foundry and participating in various national Māori arts symposiums, workshops and hui. Taepa has also been involved with fashion through his label Urbanmaori. He was a finalist within the Miromoda Indigenous Fashion Awards twice and received entry to show at New Zealand Fashion Week in 2010 and 2011 within the Miromoda shows. Taepa holds a Bachelor and Masters of Maori Visual Arts from Massey University. His work has been exhibited internationally and is represented in collections across New Zealand. Taepa is a Supreme Award winner of the Molly Morpeth 2D Art Award (2008) and a recipient of the Manawatu Potter’s Society Award’s open award (2002).

Amrita Hepi (Bundjulung and Ngāpuhi) is an award-winning First Nations choreographer and dancer from Bundjulung (AUS) and Ngāpuhi (NZ) territories. Her mission as an artist is to push the barriers of intersectionality in form and make work that establishes multiple access points through allegory. Her work is characterised by hybridity and engages in extending choreographic practices by combining dance and movement with other domains such as visual art, language and participatory research. Hepi trained at the National Aboriginal Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) Dance College and Alvin Ailey American Dance School, New York. And has been an artist-in-residence at BANFF Centre for the Arts Canada, ACE OPEN South Australia, and PACT Sydney. In 2018, she was the recipient of the People's Choice Award for the Keir Choreographic Award and was named one of “Forbes Australasia's 30 under 30”.

Couzyn Van Heuvelen (Inuit, Nunavut) is a Canadian inuk sculptor and installation artist. Born in Iqaluit, Nunavut, but living in Southern Ontario for most of his life, his work explores Inuit culture and identity, new and old technologies, and personal narratives. While rooted in the history and traditions of Inuit art, the work strays from established Inuit art making methods and explores a range of fabrication processes. Couzyn holds a BFA from York University and an MFA from NSCAD University.

We acknowledge the support of Arts Nova Scotia in making this project possible.