GLAM Collective is pleased to announce Memory Keepers II / Nujimikwite’taqatijik II, a lab incubator that provides opportunity for artists to explore new technologies and innovate with new media practices. Memory Keepers II will be on view at Art in the Open in Charlottetown, PEI, on Saturday, August 24, 2019 from 4 p.m. – 12 a.m.
Presented will be a series of site-specific, experimental, individual commissions created by six Indigenous artists, and curated by GLAM Collective with NSCAD alumni Darcie Bernhardt and Megan Kyak-Monteith. Playing with concepts of memory keeping, these artists encode, store and retrieve knowledge of the land, language, and cultural practices. Their artwork translates and transmits Indigenous knowledge for future generations.
“The ideas that stem from Memory Keepers II were rooted in collaboration and intergenerational mentorship,” explains Dr. Julie Nagam, scholar and member of the GLAM Collective. “Although the artists may not necessarily make one gigantic piece of work, by putting them together in a room for a week, they learn from each other and share their expertise to help others create new kinds of art. What people will see at Art in the Open tonight, is innovative work that the artists really pushed themselves to create.”
The artists and curators believe public art festivals like Art in the Open present opportune ways of engaging with the public. This exhibition was influenced by Atlantic Canada, as well as the social, environmental and political climate. “This work is for everyone,” says NSCAD Associate Professor Dr. Carla Taunton, member of the GLAM Collective. “It will speak to those who want to engage with art in a different way, or maybe get people interested in creative practice altogether. This is community-oriented work and includes engaging elements for the young and old”.
Hosted by NSCAD University, the six artists and five co-curators involved in Memory Keepers II spent one week in an intensive art incubator. The goal was to maintain a digital media focus, while encouraging knowledge sharing and collaboration.
“NSCAD is committed to helping advance Indigenous, Métis and Inuit leadership in the arts,” says Dr. Aoife Mac Namara, NSCAD President. “We are privileged to have been able to provide Memory Keepers II space for this important incubator, and look forward to continued partnerships with Indigenous curators and artists, like the GLAM Collective, on future projects”.
More on Memory Keepers II:
Memory Keepers II is presented by GLAM Collective, in collaboration with Art in the Open, Concordia University, NSCAD University and University of Winnipeg. Featuring work by Carrie Allison (NSCAD BA/BFA 2014, MFA 2018), Sébastien Aubin, Jerry Evans (NSCAD BFA 1986), Tsēmā Igharas, Caroline Monnet, and Alberta Rose W. GLAM Collective is co-led by Dr. Heather Igloliorte (an Inuk curator, Associate Professor, and University Research Chair at Concordia), Dr. Carla Taunton (a settler-ally curator, social justice scholar and Associate Professor at NSCAD University), and Dr. Julie Nagam (a Metis-Syrian artist, Associate Professor and Research Chair at the University of Winnipeg, and 2018-19 Scholar-in-Residence at Concordia University). This is GLAM Collective’s second installation as a part of their SSHRC-funded multi-city project Transactive Memory Keepers, which hosts media art incubations for Indigenous artists in order to create installations for night festivals. This project is also supported by the Inuit Futures in Arts Leadership SSHRC Partnership Grant.
For all media requests please contact Amanda Shore at amandaraeshore@gmail.com.