Wood Land School at Plug In ICA
July 18th to August 5th, 2016
Wood Land School is an ongoing project with no fixed location or form. It seeks critical engagements within the realms of representation, film, contemporary art, land and politics in Turtle Island and beyond. Each iteration of Wood Land School carries forth with it a commitment to address the lack of structural inclusion, both historically and in the now, in a multiplicity of institutional spaces. It is a conceptual and physical space for Indigenous people, with Indigenous people deciding its directions, structures and functions. An important and vital component of the structure of Wood Land School since its beginning is the inclusion of non-Indigenous people into its fabric, as the faculty wants to include and not exclude those that wish to engage with the complexities of these aforementioned issues. Wood Land School was started in 2011 with the making of a small exhibition of works selected by Duane Linklater in a small studio space located above a store on the Nipissing First Nations in Ontario. Since then it has taken many forms such as residencies, seminars, film screenings and discursive happenings, in places such as The Banff Center for the Arts, Art Metropole, and Simon Fraser University.
Blog post by Plug In ICA about the Wood Land School Summer Institute open studios: http://pluginicasummerinstitute.blogspot.ca/2016/08/wood-land-school-open-studio-and.html
Mini-statement for my work entitled "Naming is Seeing, Feeling is Knowing":
This work was inspired by the conversations and shared experiences that occurred during the three weeks of Wood Land School.
“There are spaces that remain uncolonized.”
Exchanging knowledge;
Sharing cultural practices;
Generosity;
Understanding;
Personal narrative;
Taking care.
I am still thinking through this work and may produce a longer artist statement in the future.
Participants and attendees enjoying the sunset at Plug In ICA's rooftop patio.
Wood Land School Open Studios, Aug 5, 2016.
Phoenix Thomas, Lita Fontaine, and Jaime Isaac in the studio at CKUW.