Two Spirit Archives and Imaginaries Indigenous Video 1994-2017

Guest curated by Queer Media Database Canada-Quebec

Narrative fiction, performance, essay, documentary, and animation are each employed in the nine works programmed by Queer Media Database Canada-Quebec presents a program of shorts that covers an epochal shift in self-representation and moving image art by indigenous and Two-Spirit people of which Zachery Longboy’s 1994 short Water into Fire (10 min) is just one an early example. Well known to Montrealers for his unflagging presence as a painter and multi-media artist, Kent Monkman’s futurist coming-out tale – in the shadow of a dystopian plague – sets the tone for a screening that contains equal parts humour, audacity, and emotional impact. The power and trauma of the past meet with the empowerment and complexity of the various forms of “present” in Two-Spirit Archives and Imaginaries, which includes the newest work from Thirza Cuthand – 2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com (2017, 5min) and exceptional new queer works from Wapikoni Mobile, a Montreal-based video hub for young indigenous artists.

Curator Jordan Arseneault in attendance.

Future Nation (2005, 16min, Vtape) Kent Monkman*
Water into Fire (1994, 10min, VideoPool) Zachery Longboy
2 Spirit Dreamcatcher Dot Com (2017, 5min, Vtape) Thirza Cuthand
Untouchable (1998, 4 min) Thirza Cuthand
Feeling Reserved: Alexus’ Story (2011, 6min, GIV) Jessica MacCormack + Alexus Young
Bloodstorm (2010, 9min, Video Out) Terry Haines
Selfie Queen (La Reine des égoportraits) (2017, 5min, Wapikoni) Melvin Gilpin, Robert Gilpin
The Hearing (2013, 5min, Wapikoni) Russell Ratt Brascoupé
Respecter la roue (2016, 5min, Wapikoni) Melissa Mollen Dupuis

*Don’t miss Kent Monkman’s exhibit at The Agnes Etherington Art Centre SHAME & PREJUDICE: A STORY OF RESILIENCE  January 6- April 8, 2018

Community Sponsor: Queer Media Database Canada-Quebec, Queen’s University Department of Cultural Studies, The Agnes Etherington Art Centre