Pashpeshau means s/he rises, s/he bursts forth, s/he blooms, in the Massachusett language, from the Natick Dictionary. As the work of Indigenous artists gains prominence across the globe, this series highlights the multidimensional perspectives of Indigenous artists that challenge dominant cultural defects, engages with critical approaches to creating, and exposes our deep relationships to land, ancestors, other life forms and future generations.
On Thursday, April 18 artist and researcher Skawennati (Mohawk), co-director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC) and partnership coordinator for the Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF), will be speaking at ACT as part of the Pashpeshau: Rising Multiplicities – Indigenous Artists Speaker Series. The series is organized by Erin Genia (SMACT ’19) and Nicole L’Huillier (Media Lab). This talk will be followed by dinner.
Skawennati makes art that addresses history, the future, and change. 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 widely presented 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. She has been honored to win imagineNative’s 2009 Best New Media Award as well as a 2011 Eiteljorg Contemporary Art Fellowship. Her work in is included in both public and private collections.
Born in Kahnawake 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 workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling and Digital Media. Skins, This year, AbTeC launched IIF, the Initiative for Indigenous Futures; Skawennati is its Partnership Coordinator.
