Response: Resonance is the culmination of the Response program, an annual program that inspires ways of responding artistically to historical and contemporary Indigenous ways of being. Participants engaged in a series of workshops led by Indigenous artists and Knowledge Holders during summer 2022.

Inspired by the qualities of sound that can be heard and felt around and within the listener, participants were invited to think about the capacity of sound and voice to connect us with memory, territory, and community.

The video works produced by participants will be on view from January 25–February 12. Varied approaches to sound are presented, expressing individual and collective experiences that range from dislocation to immersion. From soundscapes, both found and constructed, to singing circles and monologues, these video works explore themes such as knowledge transfer, ceremony, and healing.

As rivers flow and urban landscapes dissolve, connections are reclaimed through gestures both careful and caring, marked by reflections of responsibility and gratitude. Through acts of holding on, letting go, and taking back, Resonance considers the transformations that are possible both within and around us.

The themes in Response will be developed further in a series of online public programs.

Note that the screening will be closed on the evening of Thursday, January 26, as The Polygon hosts The Lind Prize 2022 Award Ceremony + Closing Ceremony.

Participating Artists
Disabled Nehiyaw/Métis artist Adele ᒪᐢᑿᓱᐤᐏᐢᑵᐤ Arseneau engages audiences by creating works that weave connections to cultural, social, and environmental issues.  Adele’s mediums include cedar, beadwork, hide textiles, digital art, and video performance art.

Rain Cabana-Boucher is a Michif/British settler artist raised in Treaty 6 Territory, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. She currently lives and works on the stolen land of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səlilwətaɬ, and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm Nations.

Isabella Dagnino is a lens-based artist who works in analogue filmmaking and medium format photography. Much of their work examines their experiences as shaped by their cultural background, and their relationships to place and community.

Stacey Donovan, iskʷíst Sm̓x̌ik̓ən̓, is a Sylix matriarch, artist, wife, and mother. Her work revolves around generational strength, beauty, and empowerment.

KJ Edwards is a Kanien’kehá:ka and mixed settler filmmaker and video editor. She was born and raised in Edmonton, Treaty 6 Territory. Her family are Wolf Clan, Goodleafs, from Kahnawá:ke.

Alysha Johnny Hawkins (Kaska Dene/Tahltan Nation) is a multidisciplinary visual artist. Her practice includes filmmaking, photography, painting, and her Indigenous cultures. She is currently pursuing her BFA at Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Jake Kimble is a multidisciplinary Chipewyan (Dënesųłıné) artist from Treaty 8 Territory whose practice revolves around acts of self-care, self-repair, and gender-based ideological refusal.

Marianne Sundown is a Cree artist from the Treaty 6 Territory of the Big Island Lake Cree Nation in Saskatchewan. Marianne resides and works on the unceded Territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ Nations.

Toni Leah C. Yake (European; Kanien’kehá:ka, Turtle Clan) is a composer residing on xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, and səlilwətaɬ territories. Her work explores identity, blood memories, trauma, and healing.

Sussan Yáñez comes from Mapuche, Andean, German, Spanish, and English ancestries. Her work revolves around being a respectful guest on unceded territories, including the lands, waters, knowledges, traditions, authorities, and gifts that shape our world.

Banner Image: Adele ᒪᐢᑿᓱᐤᐏᐢᑵᐤ Arseneau, still from The Sound of Healing, 2022