Acts of Resistance: Artist Talk

Join Coast Salish artists Ronnie Dean Harris, Marissa Nahanee, Ocean Hyland and Brandon Gabriel - featured in MOV’s Acts of Resistance exhibition - for an in-depth panel discussion exploring their individual art practices and approach to designing “protest art”, notably their work commissioned for Project Sparrow. This 2018 Greenpeace action exposed threats to local waters posed by increased tanker traffic in response to the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) Pipeline project.

The Project Sparrow bridge blockade featured seven 40 foot uniquely designed streamers dramatically propelled and flown by activists suspended beneath the Second Narrows bridge. This 38-hour action drew the attention of news networks and independent media outlets who transmitted live and recorded footage, creating global awareness of the TMX project and its violation of Indigenous rights. The streamers, several designed by Host Nation artists, and currently on display at MOV, serve as visual reminders of the First Nations territories and communities compromised by the pipeline expansion. Indigenous Nations have struggled to protect their land entitlement, cultural heritage and basic human rights since European contact. Indigenous design motifs and displays of visual culture effectively serve as symbolic and lived opposition to discourses and practices of colonization: they signal an inexplicable connection to the land and its biodiversity, while expressing the obligation of indigenous peoples to protect their traditional territories. When artists invoke traditional designs in a protest setting their presence can deliver cracks to dominant discourses and increase awareness to environmental and social injustices, propelling necessary dialogue.

Guest artists will speak to their individual approaches to protest design, their art practices and the cultural and aesthetic influences that inform their work. This is a rare opportunity to hear from diverse artists within Indigenous communities as they address the challenges and successes of representing their Nations and the politics of sovereignty through individual artistic practices.

Date: Thursday, March 5, 2020

Time: 7:00pm

Admission: *$15 Early bird, $17 adults, **$16 MOV members and Students. Free for individuals who self-identify as Indigenous.

*Early Bird ticket sales end on Friday, February 28 at 5pm.**MOV members and students, please be prepared to show your valid identification along with your ticket at the door.

Event ticket includes FREE admission to our feature exhibitions Acts of Resistance, Haida Now: A Visual Feast of Innovation and Tradition and c̓əsnaʔəm, the city before the city (reg. $20.50). Consider arriving early with your event ticket to view exhibits.

Panelists:

Brandon Gabriel, Kʷələxʷəlstən, was born and raised in the Kwantlen Nation community in unceded and present-day Fort Langley, BC. Brandon is an internationally renowned mixed media visual artist, designer, muralist, activist, and educator. He graduated from Kwantlen Polytechnic University and Emily Carr University of Art and Design. Brandon currently continues his practice from a studio in his home where he lives with his partner, Lut’sel’ke Dené scholar, artist, and activist Melinda Bige, and their daughter Jamie.

Ronnie Dean Harris, aka Ostwelve is a Stō:lo/St’át’imc/Nlaka’pamux multimedia artist based in Vancouver, BC. Ronnie has worked on a number of projects, most prominently as an actor and composer for APTN/Showcase dramatic series “Moccasin Flats”. He was additionally the lead composer for APTN children’s Cree language series “Nehiyawetan: Let’s Speak Cree”. As a musician under the name Ostwelve, Ronnie has performed in numerous festivals and has opened for acts such as Guru, K’naan, Abstract Rude and Snoop Dogg to name a few. Currently he is working as the Program Director for “Reframing Relations” with the Community Arts Council of Vancouver delivering programming for indigenous and non-indigenous artists to interface with students and youth in schools and communities around the concept of reconciliation.

Ocean Hyland is a səl̓ilw̓ət youth living on unceded Coast Salish lands in British Columbia, Canada. She is an artist and activist, who is currently studying the Skwxwu7mesh language. Ocean is active in the movement to protect Indigenous lands and communities, recently publishing an op-ed in Teen Vogue and speaking to Barclays’ bank, requesting it commit to discontinue financing new tar sands pipelines.

Marissa Nahanee, Maykw Cha7em, is a member of the Squamish and Nisga’a Nations Eagle Clan. She is an artist and community and leadership development professional who works with First Nations to design and deliver personalized training that develops respect for communities. Marissa has previously worked with the Four Host First Nations Secretariat (FHFN) during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games developing projects such as the Indigenous Youth Gathering, in which 300 youth performed in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. She has appeared in television productions (Creative Native, My TV, Tribal Tracks and First Talk) and in documentary films such as Marie Clements’ The Road Forward, distributed by National Film Board of Canada.

ACCESSIBILITY:

Mobility Access: Museum of Vancouver (MOV) is wheelchair and scooter accessible, including washrooms, ramps and elevators, and wide entrances and exits.

Parking: The MOV parking lot is run by EasyPark, please remember to pay for parking before entering the building. There is also street parking available.

Transit: Plan your trip. Address: 1100 Chestnut Street

Bathrooms: There are a mix of single stalled and multi-stalled bathrooms located in the Lower Lobby of MOV, which can be accessed by elevator or stairs.

We acknowledge we are on the unceded territories of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ilwətaɁɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations, at the site of the ancestral Village of Sen̓áḵw – neighbouring the current Sḵwx̱wú7mesh reserve of the same name.

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