Premiere of STTLMNT: An Indigenous Digital Occupation
Tuesday, October 13th, 3-4:30 PM EST
Registration link: https://bit.ly/STTLMNT; registrants will receive the Zoom link one day prior to event
Celebrate the launch of STTLMNT, a new, online platform featuring 30 contemporary Indigenous artists, going live October 13th. Join moderator Prerana Reddy, A Blade of Grass Director of Programs, with organizing artist Cannupa Hanska Luger and collaborators for a preview of STTLMNT’s representation of complex, living Indigenous cultures, and the Indigenous-led new media, theory, and contemporary art “digital occupation” taking place at www.sttlmnt.org. A project two years in the making, originally planned as month-long encampment in Plymouth, UK, to take place this summer within the context of the commemoration events for the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s voyage to the so-called “New World,” STTLMNT was intended to go beyond conversations of decolonization and actively practice Indigenization as a radically immersive onsite experience. With the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, the participating artists have nimbly adapted their projects to instead engage this issue over the fall and winter through a succession of online performances, artist discussions, social engagement, mini docs, and new work that invite audiences, globally, to engage with the diverse, complicated, and intersectional art and reality of the Indigenous peoples of North America and the Pacific.
The 90-minute event on Zoom will include a live performance of new music by Laura Ortman; screening of a trailer and discussion with filmmaker Razelle Benally, who has traveled around the country documenting artists at home; a discussion of active, non-extractive, collaborative creative work with STTLMNT artists Cannupa Hanska Luger, Marie Watt, and Emily Johnson; concluding with perspectives from UK collaborators Karen and Fiona Evans, known as The Consciousness Sisters collective, discussing how their Clan-Kind project helps people living in Plymouth develop a deeper connection between place & community by bringing together diverse groups to learn about the natural or built heritage, including acknowledgement of the legacy of indigenous Welsh heritage. The event also includes an opportunity and call to action to participate in the each/other collaborative artwork, under the direction of Luger and Watt, to be featured in their forthcoming dual-exhibition at the Denver Art Museum in 2021.
The event is presented by STTLMNT, with special thanks to its US Producer, Ginger Dunnill, A Blade of Grass, and Printed Matter. Participants will also receive a digital copy of the fall 2020 issue of A Blade of Grass Magazine, “Confronting Enemies,” featuring an interview with Prerana Reddy and Cannupa Hanska Luger, available also for download on abladeofgrass.org and at printedmatter.org.