The Response Program

In 2014, Response—an outreach program that lifts the voice of Indigenous Youth—was successfully piloted. Relaunched in 2020, Response is now an annual film program involving a series of workshops led primarily by and for Indigenous people, culminating in an exhibition of participants’ work at The Polygon Gallery. The program invites ways of responding artistically to historical and contemporary images of Indigenous cultures.

Participants will have the opportunity to develop a film-based project alongside inspiring artists and Knowledge Holders, with the finished work presented in an exhibition at The Polygon Gallery.

This program is open to Indigenous artists of all ages and skill-level. For more information, contact: response@thepolygon.ca.

The Polygon’s Indigenous Liaison Joelle Johnston and Response’s Curator Serena Steel

About Response’s Curator
Serena Steel is a Secwépemc interdisciplinary artist and curator whose practice takes the form of beadwork, sculpture, and writing. She considers themes of belonging and memory through the materiality and labour of her work. Steel currently works on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Critical and Cultural Practice from Emily Carr University of Art + Design with a minor in Social Practice and Community Engagement.

Photos: Alison Boulier