Gallery 101, Harbour Collective, and Asinabka are pleased to co-present works by the Catrileo+Carrión Community and Jason Baerg.
Filmworks emerge at a particular moment. Some are designed to answer or expand upon questions or events put forth by the artist's own circumstances and histories; others reflect upon our collective and shared experiences. The film, photography, and textile works Waneyihtamisâyâwin ᐊᐧᓀᔨᐦᑕᒥᓵᔮᐃᐧᐣ (Queer), Pakitinâsôstamawew ᐸᑭᑎᓈᓲᐢᑕᒪᐁᐧᐤ (S/he offers a sacrifice for her/him) and Pillanlectics I explore private and public occurrences that build upon and question Indigenous multiple, subjective histories and identities.
Jason Baerg's realist, new media portraits weave through realms of earth and sky through the conjoined perspectives of a spider and red-winged blackbird shapeshifter. Created in collaboration with Anishnawbe dancer and choreographer Cody Berry-Ottertail and photographer Kristy Boyce, the shapeshifter’s flight ascends through a portal of transformation, welcoming the ways, honouring our gifted place, and accepting out intended responsibilities and power in the ceremony of community.
Pillanlectics I is a video and a textile installation by the Catrileo+Carrión Community. Named after the non-human volcano-dweller spirit Pillan of Mapuche epistemology, the installation evokes the conversation between volcanoes that have interrupted the history of colonization in what is now called Chile. The artists claim the incommensurable and undeniable strength of the Pillan as a thread that weaves a connection with their Epupillan (Two-spirit in Mapuzungun) ancestors who were named as sodomites. While reflecting about the non-existent place in history of their Epupillan ancestors the artists encountered 'volcano damage maps' that describe only the destructive potencies of the Pillan. Using their political imagination, the artists weave relations with the many Pillan in an attempt to drag history; they claim the many Pillan as part of their memory as Epupilla to connect with both creative and destructive forces against the rules that colonialism has imposed.
This exhibition catalyzes multiple works to collectively create new narratives and ideas of "two-spirit." For the Indigenous who live, have lived, and are yet to live in two-spirit, these films will provide both reflections and maps to unique cultures that thrive within the Indigenous landscapes. These encounters and struggles are shaped by Indigenous legends, realities as well as a co-mingling of both fact and fiction.
Acknowledgements
Exhibition curators the Harbour Collective acknowledge the support of Canada Council for the Arts.
Jason Baerg acknowledges the support of Toronto Arts Council and Canada Council for the Arts.