Response: Soft Action Film Screening

The Polygon Gallery is pleased to present Response: Soft Action from January 26 to February 6, 2022. This presentation features video works by twelve participants, and was inspired by a series of workshops led by Indigenous artists and Knowledge Holders that took place during summer and fall 2021. These short films share stories and activate conversations about holding space for oneself and others, through a wide range of approaches that reflect on themes such as time, belonging, and compassion.

Participating Artists include Arlene Bowman, Jordon Davis, Terreane Derrick, Caleb Ellison-Dysart, Xinyue Liu, Jacqueline Morrisseau-Addison, Ogheneofegor Obuwoma, kat savard, Lilian Rose Smith, Michelle Sound, Maura Tamez, and Ghinwa Yassine. (Annotated bios below.)

The themes in Response will be developed further through a series of online dialogues.

The 2021 Response program is a collaboration between The Polygon Gallery and First Nations Student Services and the Indigenous Digital Filmmaking Program at Capilano University. Open to creators with an interest in visual and media arts, priority was given to Indigenous participants. Fifteen artists were selected from over fifty applications.

“This year’s Response program theme centred networks of care among arts communities, and these films reflect the depth of care and generosity offered to participants by the incredible artists and Knowledge Holders who led the 2021 workshop series. Through the works of these emerging artists and filmmakers, audiences can find moments of learning, inspiration, and connection,” says Nicole Brabant, The Polygon’s Assistant Curator.

Artists and Knowledge Holders for the Response Program workshop series included Jules Arita Koostachin (Cree, Attawapiskat First Nation), David Geary (Taranaki Māori), and Rose Stiffarm (Blackfoot, Siksika Nation), among others.

Presented By

Image: Jordon Davis, Three Generations (still), video, sound, 2021


Press Images
Download Here

Listing
Response: Soft Action
Dates: January 26 – February 6, 2022
Gallery Hours: Wednesday, 10:00am – 5:00pm; Thursday, 10:00am – 8:00pm; Friday – Sunday, 10:00am – 5:00pm Address
101 Carrie Cates Court, North Vancouver, Territories of the Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh), and xwməθkwəýəm (Musqueam) Nations.

Admission
By donation, courtesy of BMO Financial Group.


Participating Artists

Arlene Bowman (Diné) is a filmmaker, documentarian, and fiction writer. She has an MFA in Film from UCLA, and aspires to create Turquoise Sun, an Indigenous women’s film conference and non-profit organisation based in Los Angeles.

Jordon Davis (Cree/Dene Tha’ Nation) is a mixed-media artist whose recent installation art and film work claim space for underrepresented folks, and who draws on the intersections of her identities for inspiration. Davis recently attended MacEwan University.

Terreane Derrick (Gitx’san Nation, German) is an accomplished public speaker and facilitator who is currently focused on personal governance. Terreane appreciates the medicine of art, and her mediums include drawing, painting, puppetry, performing arts, and video production.

Caleb Ellison-Dysart (Nîhithaw Cree) is a multi-disciplinary artist whose work seeks to depict the interconnection of all things. His family comes from O-pipon-Na-Piwin Cree Nation and Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation in Treaty 5 Territory, and he is currently attending Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

Xinyue Liu (Canada) is a visual artist whose work takes form in film, photography, text and installation. She completed her MFA in Interdisciplinary Studies at Simon Fraser University and holds a bachelor’s degree in Radio and Television Productions from Jilin University, China.

Jacqueline Morrisseau-Addison (Saulteaux, Treaty 7) is an emerging installation artist, facilitator, curator and art historian whose work prioritises Indigenous sovereignty and explores how processes of decolonization operate across arts institutions. She holds a BFA in Art History from Concordia University.

Ogheneofegor Goodness Obuwoma (Isoko/Okpe, Nigeria) is a filmmaker, storyteller, and artist who is currently pursuing a BFA in film production from Simon Fraser University. Her work explores ‘the personal’ in relationship to her larger community and the cultural experience of being Nigerian.

kat savard (Algonquin/Cree/Huron) is an emerging poet and filmmaker, currently deeply engaged with the poetics of grief, love, and the beauty held within everyday mundane moments. They have recently completed their study of Creative Writing at Capilano University.

Lilian Rose Smith (Métis) is an emerging queer photographer whose work explores the theme of identity through portraiture and landscape. She is an alumna of Emily Carr University of Art + Design and holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Photography.

Michelle Sound (Métis/Cree Swan River First Nation) is a multidisciplinary visual artist. Her practice includes a variety of mediums including photography, textiles, painting, and Indigenous material practises. Her artwork often explores her Cree and Métis identity from a personal experience rooted in family, place and history.

Maura Tamez (Lipan Apache Band/Dene) is an installation artist whose work draws upon personal themes of belonging, place, and history. She is currently pursuing her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of British Columbia-Okanagan.

Ghinwa Yassine (Lebanon) is a Vancouver-based anti-disciplinary artist working with film, performance, writing, and drawing. Her works seek a radical historicizing of individual and collective traumas where embodied memories manifest through story, ritual, and gesture.