Conversation with Artists Leena Minifie and Cannupa Hanska Luger

September 27, 2017 by Ginger Dunnill

Broken Boxes is very excited to launch a new podcast series titled INTERSECTION.

Our first episode of the INTERSECTION series features Gitxaala/British (Tsimshian) artist, writer, curator and media producer Leena Minifie in conversation with Mandan/Hidatsa/Arikara/Lakota multidisciplinary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. Their conversation travels through space and time, weaving together topics such as identity politics, the pan-indigenous conundrum, 'the original poison', IAIA, the center of the universe, call out culture, stereotypes, the Roman empire, romanticism, technology worship, decolonization versus re-indigenizing and responsibility. Broken Boxes is so excited to launch this unfiltered, honest, hilarious, serious, exciting and insightful project on the podcast!

Here is the conversation between Leena Minifie and Cannupa Hanska Luger:

Subscribe to Broken Boxes Podcast on iTunes HERE to stream and download this episode

Music Featured on this podcast: Weaves: Scream ft. Tanya Tagaq

Many thanks to Leena Minifie and Cannupa Hanska Luger for letting Broken Boxes record you talking story over tea and coffee to be shared out into the world. And shout out to fellow podcaster Sterlin Harjo of The Cuts Podcast for having a hand at inspiring this series launch.

MORE ABOUT THE INTERSECTION SERIES:

INTERSECTION series approaches open ended conversation between various visiting artists and multidisciplinary artist Cannupa Hanska Luger. The series is meant to engage our pointS of intersection and provoke critical thought as we process existence. There is no specified format and the conversation is guided simply by what is on the artists minds. The series invites us to examine humanity and the universe through radical, complicated and variant perspectives overlapping in one moment in time.

A conversation among humans...

MORE ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Leena Minifie is a Gitxaala/British (Tsimshian) artist, writer, curator and media producer. Leena grew up in small town on the Douglas Channel near her traditional home territory of the Pacific Northwest coast. The temporal rainforest was her playground; grizzlies, black bears, wolves, whales, and deer were her neighbors. Leena studied media arts at Indigenous Media Arts Group in Vancouver under some of Canada’s influential Native media artists such as Dana Claxton and Archer Pechawis. Leena completed a BFA in New Media and BA in Indigenous Liberal Studies in New Mexico. She now resides in Minneapolis, MN where she works for boutique communications firm Seiche. Her art making and curatorial work is situated at the intersection of art, culture, land and politics. She creates video, media, and interactive works. She produced three short films that have screened at film festivals internationally and premiered at the ImagineNative film festival in Toronto. Most recently the film, ?E?anx/The Cave, played at the prestigious Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and her graduating piece “Sense of Home” picked up the 2012 Best New Media prize at ImagineNative Media Arts + Film Festival and was exhibited in the TIFF Bell Theatre Gallery. Her curated group exhibition “When Raven Became Spider” is touring across North America until 2020.

Leena holds a BA in Indigenous Studies and BFA in New Media from the Institute of American Indian Arts in New Mexico. She has worked as journalist for agencies such as Ricochet Media, CBC Radio One, CTV First Story, Native American Calling (US), APTN National News and acted as a freelance producer. Leena’s experience includes over a decade of work as a facilitator, reporter, videographer, webinar & tv producer & production manager on media projects including documentaries, radio broadcast, language retention projects and news sites. She is currently the only First Nations woman to participate in the Aspen Institute and the U.S. Embassy’s Edward R. Murrow Journalism Program in Washington, DC. Leena leads with visual and pattern thinking and a multi-disciplinary approach to problem-solving and communication. She believes that creative communications is all about creativity and passion with a healthy dose of sincerity, transparency, reciprocity and out-of-the-box thinking.

Born in North Dakota on the Standing Rock Reservation, artist Cannupa Hanska Luger comes from Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara, Lakota, Austrian, and Norwegian descent. Luger's unique, ceramic-centric, but ultimately multidisciplinary work tells provocative stories of complex Indigenous identities coming up against 21st Century imperatives, mediation, and destructivity. Luger creates socially conscious work that hybridizes his identity as an American Indian in tandem with global issues. Using his art as a catalyst, he invites the public to challenge expectations and misinterpretations imposed upon Indigenous peoples by historical and contemporary colonial social structures.

Cannupa Hanska Luger is the recipient of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation National Artist Fellowship Award among other notable acclaims and has participated in artist residencies and lectures throughout the Nation. Luger currently holds a studio practice in New Mexico, maintaining a clear trajectory of gallery and museum exhibitions worldwide.

Cannupa Hanska Luger's work has been noted as "a modern look at ideas of colonization, adaptability and survival as major components to the development of culture” by Western Art Collector Magazine and The Native Arts and Cultures Foundation noted that "Luger could well rise to be one of those artists whose caliber is unmatched and whose work will be studied by students to come, thus furthering the path for many more contemporary Native artists."

Cannupa Hanska Luger graduated with honors from The Institute of American Indian Arts in 2011 with a BFA focusing in studio ceramics. He has been exhibited at Radiator Gallery New York NY; L.A. Art Show Los Angeles CA; La Bienalle di Venezia Verona, Italy; Art Mur Montreal, Quebec; Museum of Northern Arizona Flagstaff AZ; Rochester Art Center Rochester MN; Navy Pier Chicago, IL; University of Alaska Fairbanks, AK; National Center for Civil and Human Rights Atlanta GA; Blue Rain Gallery Santa Fe, NM, among others. Luger is also in the permanent collections of The North America Native Museum Zürich, Switzerland; The Denver Art Museum Denver, CO; The Museum of Contemporary Native Arts Santa Fe, NM; and The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art Norman, OK.

Conversation with Artists Chief Lady Bird and Aura Last - Unceded Voices Project

August 22, 2017 by Ginger Dunnill

In this episode we get into conversation with artists Chief Lady Bird and Aura Last, collaborators on a large mural project as part of 2017 Unceded Voices: Anticolonial Street Artists Convergence, a biennial convergence of primarily Indigenous-identified women/2spirit/Queer/, Black and Women of Color street artists in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang, unceded Haudenosaunee and Anishinabe territories (also known as Montreal). Chief Lady Bird and Aura Last connect about what collaboration means to their practice and how their collaborative work engages with youth as a central point of engagement. We also dive into how both artists practice their art as a form of decolonization and resilience, and how their work embeds coding into public urban spaces to reclaim power for indigenous peoples and as a form of healing.

Here is the conversation with Chief Lady Bird & Aura Last:

Subscribe to Broken Boxes Podcast on iTunes HERE to stream and download this episode

This conversation was hosted by Ginger Dunnill of Broken Boxes Podcast

More about the artists:

Chief Lady Bird and Aura Last portrait.JPG

Chief Lady Bird:
Nancy King (Chief Lady Bird) is a First Nations (Potawatomi and Chippewa) artist from Rama First Nation. Her Anishinaabe name is Ogimaakwebnes, which means Chief Lady Bird. She has completed her BFA in Drawing and Painting with a minor in Indigenous Visual Culture at OCAD University and has been exhibiting her work since she was 14 years old. Through her art practice, she strives to look to the past to help her navigate her Anishinaabe identity whilst living in an urban space as well as advocate for Indigenous representation as an integral aspect of Canada’s national identity. She addresses the complexity of identity through the use of contemporary painting techniques; woodlands style imagery, photography, digital manipulation and traditional Indigenous craft materials and often works with at-risk youth to ensure knowledge and skill sharing/development.

Aura Last:
Monique Bedard (Aura) is a Haudenosaunee (Oneida Nation of the Thames) woman from a small town in Southern Ontario. She has been deeply and passionately involved in visual arts for 11 years. In 2006, she began a formal study of visual arts at Fanshawe College in London, ON. After three years of studies in London, she moved to Lethbridge, AB to complete an undergraduate degree at the University of Lethbridge. She received her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Studio Art) degree in 2010 and returned to Ontario where she began instructing group art lessons with children, adolescents and adults. Monique currently resides in Tkaronto, where she is working as an artist, art facilitator and muralist. She is inspired by the healing journey: "I have the passion for community engagement, collaboration and social change where stories are shared through the art making process. Through a holistic approach, it is my aim to empower people by honing in on individuals' strengths. My goal is to build art projects that lead to a deep sense of understanding while connecting through unity, collaboration and transformation."

"It is through the freedom of the creative process that imagination and creativity are ignited, connections are restored, meaning is built, passions are discovered, visions are manifested, ideas are born, inspiration becomes contagious, strength is called upon, and all voices and stories are heard." - Monique Aura

UNCEDED VOICES: Anticolonial Street Artists Convergence. August 13-21 2017

Unceded Voices: Anticolonial Street Artists Convergence is a biennial convergence of primarily Indigenous-identified women/2spirit/Queer/, Black and Women of Color street artists in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang, unceded Haudenosaunee and Anishinabe territories (also known as Montreal). The goal of this convergence is three-fold: to develop a network of solidarity and support between Indigenous women/2Spirit/Queer and women of color street artists ; to promote anticolonial resistance through diverse street art interventions; and to foster relationships and dialogue between the collective and the broader community.Through street art interventions (murals, wheat pastes, stencils, graffiti, textile art, performances, etc.), the artists in Unceded Voices collective are from all over Turtle Island and express their demands, identities and histories.

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/decolonizingstreetart

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/unceded_voices

Conversation with Artist Jessica Canard - Unceded Voices Project

July 30, 2017 by Ginger Dunnill

This episode premieres a new series featuring interviews with participating artists from the 2017 Unceded Voices: Anticolonial Street Artists Convergence, a biennial convergence of primarily Indigenous-identified women/2spirit/Queer/, Black and Women of Color street artists in Tiohtià:ke/Mooniyaang, unceded Haudenosaunee and Anishinabe territories (also known as Montreal). This conversation is with participating artist Jessica Canard.

Artists Dayna Dangers and Jessica Canard. Collaboration for Unceded Voices 2015

" I am a multi-media visual artist who is highly influenced by street art. I use those various mediums in my work to share ideas and experiences that come from a place of building stronger communities because I believe it takes a community to raise a strong caring person." -Jessica Canard 2017 Unceded Voices participating artist

Here is the conversation with Jessica Canard:

Subscribe to Broken Boxes Podcast on iTunes HERE to stream and download this episode

Music Featured on this episode by youth participants from Graffiti Art Programming

This conversation was hosted by Ginger Dunnill of Broken Boxes Podcast

More about the artist:

Jessica Canard is a multi-media visual artist who is inspired by street art and murals due to how accessible it is to the public. Born and currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, she has goals of traveling and making art internationally. She wants to share skills, ideas, and experiences with others in an equal exchange so she can bring back what she’s learned to her communities. Her roots are from Sagkeeng First Nation where she is using art to explore, reclaim, and bridge this part of her heritage with urban living. Her main focus is to use art as a tool for self reflection/growth, to engage the public, and build stronger communities. Accomplished at a young age, she’s been facilitating art workshops for youth since the age of 17, at 21 her work was purchased by the Canadian Museum for Human Rights thanks to a partnership that was started between the museum and the Michaelle Jean Foundation, at 25 she created her first out of province collaborative mural, and now she’s working towards those international goals.

"I have a focus on large scale production, such as murals, and I’m really into sharing knowledge and skills through the facilitation of art workshops. I was born in and am currently based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. It has an influence on my art making and so does my heritage as an Ojibwe woman from Sagkeeng First Nation. Themes that come up in my work are influenced by the disconnect I have from my culture due to the process of colonization and how I am trying to reclaim that part of my identity. I don’t see myself reflected in the world around me and creating art is my way of making sure that I am represented, that my culture, and my communities are represented too. I also use art as a tool for self growth/reflection, to engage the public, and build stronger relationships between communities and their members. To me art is about bringing people together and creating positive change." - Jessica Canard

UNCEDED VOICES: Anticolonial Street Artists Convergence. August 13-21 2017

Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/decolonizingstreetart

Instagram : https://www.instagram.com/unceded_voices

Conversation with Artist Ryan Dennison

July 05, 2017 by Ginger Dunnill

In this episode we get into conversation with Ryan Dennison, a Diné transdisciplinary artist from Tohatchi, NM. Ryan speaks about his family and community as crucial support systems to maintaining his artistic practice. He shares about his role as a teacher of traditional knowledge and how a whole system approach to learning has not only provided strength for his students but also for himself and his artistic practice and performance work. We hear about his latest upcoming photo installation at Shallow Gallery in Gallup, NM and he reflects on queer identity in relationship to growing up in/near the border town Gallup, NM. Ryan also shares about the thriving underground indigenous/queer/poc/womxn music and art scene currently taking place on the Navajo Nation and surrounding areas.

"The Wind Won't Know Me" Solo Performance March 3rd, 2017 at The Hive, Phoenix, AZ Photo by Hannah Manuelito — "The Wind Won't Know Me" Solo Performance March 3rd, 2017 at The Hive, Phoenix, AZ
Photo by Hannah Manuelito

Shapeshifting through various mediums Ryan Dennison exercises the transposition of past and present to share a social and political soundscape to vision our future environment, acknowledging the interconnectedness of land, culture and community. His practice involves both visual art and sound—engaging in performances that utilize Diné traditional tools with self taught media such as contact mics, synthesizers, handmade costumes, and projections.

Here is the conversation with Ryan Dennison:

Subscribe to Broken Boxes Podcast on iTunes HERE to stream and download this episode

Music featured on this podcast: Niyol Nee Ní'íí, Dry Spell and We Can Chill by the artist Ryan Dennison

This conversation was hosted by Ginger Dunnill of Broken Boxes Podcast

More about the artist:

"Moccasin-Gaze" Solo Performance Indie Electro Punk Fest, Shiprock, NM. October 11, 2016. Photo by Nate Lemuel — "Moccasin-Gaze" Solo Performance Indie Electro Punk Fest, Shiprock, NM. October 11, 2016. Photo by Nate Lemuel

Ryan Dennison’s work defuses critical engaged consciousness and liberation technologies through indigenous research, planning, design, education and healing. He comes from a background of experiential, pastoral and traditional ecological knowledge, which constructs a Diné epistemological framework and pedagogical orientation of traditional/western knowledge.

He currently works and lives in Gallup, NM as an educator with indigenous communities actively maintaining, renewing and revitalizing traditional knowledge linking, food, culture, health and the environment.

Dennison has been featured in both solo and collaboration exhibitions across Diné Nation and U.S. Sicksicksick Distro (Albuquerque, NM), “All My Relations” Exhibition (Minneapolis, NM), “Visions into Infinite Archives” Exhibition (San Francisco, CA), Deep White Sound (Portland, OR), and “Future Now / Futura Ahora” (New York City, NY).

In his most current work, Dennison presents a private collection of archival work that traces the formation and growth of indigenous people, through resistance against imperialism, patriarchy and colonial threats to land, space and time. Something of a photographic archaeologist, tracking trends and creating collections that Dennison hopes are culturally significant and glimpses into indigenous time and culture. Dennison has been collecting out of print, discarded, thrown away photos of indigenous people and land since his teens. Follow his instagram @asteriskhyphen that documents his methods and his first photo exhibition will be July 8th 2017 at Shallow Gallery in Gallup, NM.

Conversation with Filmmaker Sterlin Harjo

June 15, 2017 by Ginger Dunnill

Writer/Director Sterlin Harjo belongs to the Seminole and Creek Nations, and is a native of Holdenville, Oklahoma. In this episode of Broken Boxes we hear about Sterlin's journey to becoming a filmmaker and he shares memories of growing up in rural Oklahoma as 'that weird artist kid'. Sterlin also talks about being a founding member of renown Native comedy group the 1491s and reflects on the beginning project that catapulted the group to what it is today. Sterlin also talks about Standing Rock as an Indigenous led global movement and we get his perspective regarding the film works that have come since. Sterlin also offers his insight for existing in a world consumed by social media and offers advice on how to approach creating film work through today's accessible media platforms.

1491s: Sterlin Harjo, Dallas Goldtooth, Ryan RedCorn and Bobby Wilson (Gilcrease 2016)

Here is the conversation with Sterlin Harjo:

Subscribe to Broken Boxes Podcast on iTunes HERE to stream and download this episode

Music featured on this episode by artists John Moreland, Lauren Barth and Silver Jackson.

More about the artist:

Sterlin Harjo belongs to the Seminole and Creek Nations, and is a native of Holdenville, Oklahoma. Interested from an early age in visual art and film, Harjo studied painting at the University of Oklahoma before writing his first feature-length script. Since then Harjo was a participant in the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program. In 2004, Sundance Institute selected Harjo to receive an Annenberg Fellowship, which provided extended support over a two-year period to facilitate the creation of his feature project. In 2006 Harjo was in the inaugural class of United States Artists award recipients. He was also the youngest recipient.

Sterlin Harjo completed a year of development on his feature film script FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND through the Sundance Institute’s Filmmaker Labs where he worked under the guidance of industry veterans such as Robert Redford, Stanley Tucci, Joan Tewkesbury, Susan Shilliday, Frank Pierson, Walter Mosley, and Antonia Bird. Sterlin’s project was one of 12 projects chosen from a pool of almost 2,500 based on the uniqueness of his voice, the originality of his story and the promise of this feature film offering something poignant to American cinema.

Harjo’s short film GOOD NIGHT IRENE premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 05 and has went on to play festivals around the world. The short film has garnered Harjo awards including Special Jury Recognition at the Aspen Shorts Festival and Best Oklahoma Film at the Dead Center film festival in Oklahoma City.

In 2007 Harjo’s first feature film, FOUR SHEETS TO THE WIND, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. The film garnered warm responses from both audience’s and critics. Tamara Podemski won a Special Jury Prize for outstanding performance for her role in the film as Miri Smallhill. Podemski was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for her performance.

Harjo’s film BARKING WATER had a successful premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and it screened as a part of the highly acclaimed New Directors/New Film series in New York City. Barking Water was the only American film that played in the Venice Days section of the 2009 Venice Film Festival.

Harjo’s first documentary THIS MAY BE THE LAST TIME premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival.

Harjo’s film Mekko premiered at The Los Angeles Film Festival in 2015. Mekko also screened at the Toronto International Film Festival and the Stockholm International Film Festival. It won best film at the ImagineNative Film Festival in Toronto.

Harjo is a founding member of the all Native comedy group the 1491s.

This conversation was hosted by Ginger Dunnill of Broken Boxes Podcast