Metis Media Fest 2007,  24 Aboriginal Artists, 50 videos, 25 digital images and 10 audio tracks presented at SAW Video Media Arts Ottawa.

Metis Media Fest 2007 was exhibited at the SAW Video Media Arts Centre in Ottawa Canada on August 30, 2007. The multimedia Installation featured 50 videos, 25 digital images and 10 audio tracks in collaboration with 24 Aboriginal Artists from Australia, The Philippines, Peru, Canada and the USA.

Metis Media Fest 2007 ran from 4-8 PM Thursday on August 30, 2007 in CLUB SAW in the Arts Court Building at 2 Daly Street (corner of Daly and Nicholas in Ottawa’s Market District). The videos, digital images and audio tracks were featured within an immersive installation of computers and video projectors. Excerpts of the works were shown on the main screens with the unedited versions available on the computers within the installation.

Exhibited videos included: “Singing Home the Bones: A Poet Becomes Himself” by Hilary Pryor, “Buried Traces” by Michelle Smith, “Hybred” by Christine Kirouac, “Anwolek- Regatta City” by Dana Claxton, “Sierra’s Song” by John Barnard. VIdeos were digitized and “mashed-up” or “remixed” on 8 large screens. Full length Video, audio and digital images were presented through an interface on 5 available computers.

Marcel Fayant – The 2^nd Dumbest Question of the 20^th Century

Videos Exhibited – Artist, Title

• James Diamond Mars – Womb Man
• James Diamond – Private Property
• Terry Haines – Skin for Life
• Terry Haines – Raven Heart
• Terry Haines – Dragonfly
• RoseAnne Archibald – Class Clown
• RoseAnne Archibald – Payuk Sashkeehitowin (One Love) Peuk Nepi,
• James Nicholas – Meeting Waterwoman
• Dana Claxton Anwolek – Regatta City
• Hilary Pryor – Singing Home The Bones: A Poet Becomes Himself.
• Marcel Fayant – The 2^nd Dumbest Question of the 20^th Century
• Marcel Fayant – The 3^rd Dumbest Question of the 20^th Century
• Marcel Fayant – The Response to the Dumbest Question of the 20^th Century
• Marcel Fayant – Native Dance Movement

The Metis Media Fest asks “What does it mean to be Metis?”

The films, YouTube videos, audio tracks, digital images, and photographs featured the work of Aboriginal artists from Canada, USA, Australia, Peru and the Philippines that examine issues around Aboriginal/European heritage, including why people of mixed heritage may or may not identify themselves as Métis.

Digital Images by Wayne Phillips

This family-friendly event featured 50 videos, 25 digital images and 10 audio tracks, all presented within an immersive installation of computers and video projectors. Excerpts of the works will be shown on the main screen with the unedited versions available on the computers within the installation.

Anwolek – Regatta City by Dana Claxton

The event will be of interest to audiences of Aboriginal culture as well as those seeking a technological experience. The work ranges from traditional  to experimental. In 2007, The Installation included electronic works of Aboriginal artists from Vancouver, Montreal, Saskatoon, Regina, Fargo, Lima, Baguio and Melbourne.

Medicine Wheel Video Installation exhibited in the Tamawan Village Gallery, Baguio Philippines, February 2005.

The North-South-East-West Video Installation with Metis storyteller Graham Thompson was exhibited at the Tamawan Village Art Gallery, Baguio Philippines, February 2005.

TAM-AWAN Village is a reconstructed Cordillera village showcasing the traditional Ifugao Huts, and Baguio’s art and culture scene. It was established by National Artist BenCab in 1998 together with Chanum Foundation to promote the local Baguio Artists. Tam-awan is a local word which means “vantage point” an apt name for a colony of Cordillera Huts that sit on a hillside that affords visitors a magnificent view of the South China Sea on a clear day. The Chanum Foundation, Inc., started reconstructing Ifugao houses in Baguio with the intention of recreating a native village accessible to those who have not had the opportunity to explore the different parts of the vast Cordillera region in the Philippines, laying the houses out just like a traditional Cordillera village. Tam-awan Village is also a venue for art exhibits, workshops and other activities that showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Cordillera people.

North-South-East-West Installation exhibited at Taipei Ateneo de Manila University Art Gallery Philippines, 2005.

The North-South-East-West Video Installation with Metis storyteller Graham Thompson was exhibited at the Ateneo de Manila University Art Gallery, Manila Philippines in February 2005.

The Filipino tour included exhibitions and round table discussions at the following locations: Tamawan Village Art Gallery Baguio,  Ateneo Art Gallery Manila, – Darayonan Centre in Coron, Kamarikutan Gallery in Puerto Princessa, University of the Philippines Mindanao Cultural Centre Davao, Regional Education Learning Centre of Cotobato City, Round Table Discussions with Lumad groups in Cotabato City, and Western Mindanao State University in Zamboanga

Tompalski’s Private Moments exhibited at the Arko Ni Apo Gallery, Baguio Philippines, 2005.

Sherry Tompalski’s Private Moments Series was exhibited as digital images at the Arko Ni Apo Gallery, Baguio Philippines in February 2005.

Private Moments, series of portraits, examines our desire to connect with others and the unknown connections made by others to us. The permanence of the painted images are like the timeless yearnings we have for others. Private Moments poses the questions “Is there such as thing as a private moment? Are all of our private moments filled with feelings about other people?”

The Arko ni Apo Gallery

The Arko ni Apo art gallery, owned by Benhur Villanueva,  is only a few miles from the heart of Baguio City Philippines. Sculptor, painter and educator, Ben-Hur G. Villanueva, was an art teacher at the country’s prestigious university, Ateneo de Manila University.

His celebrated monumental masterpieces are as follows: Kapit-Bisig – a commemorative Narra wood sculpture of four figures locking arms, which was presented by President Corazon Aquino to the Filipino people on the first year anniversary of the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Among Supremo – a sculpture of Andres Bonifacio at Global City Taguig City,  Thy Will Be Done – A sculpture at the campus of Saint Paul University Quezon City, St. Aloysius Gonzaga – A sculpture at the campus of Saint Louis University in Baguio city, and Risen Christ – A statue at Caleruega, Nasugbu, Batangas.  He has served as president for the Society of Philippine Sculptors (SPS), as Art director for the Ephpheta Foundation for the Blind, Inc., and as vice president-treasurer for Unesco’s International Art Association (IAA).

Roberto Villanueva was Benhur Villanueva’s Brother

Roberto Villanueva was born in 1947 in Olongapo, Zambales, the Philippines. After graduating in 1973 with a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the University of Santo Tomas he taught at the Philippine Women’s University. He began his artistic career as a surrealist, but was gradually drawn into the film medium. In 1983 he became a member of the Board of Directors of the United Filmmakers Organization. He has won several awards in documentary film.

Pictured below is Roberto Villaneuva, The Philippines, performance in association with Ego’s Grave 1993 at the ‘1st Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1993. © Estate of the artist; photograph: Andrea Higgins; image courtesy: Queensland Art Gallery ׀ Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)

When Roberto Villanueva moved to the northern highlands of Baguio in 1980 he was inspired to create art build from the basic materials of the environment. His art acquired a shamanic aura, the source of its powerful energy drawn from ancient but continuing community symbols, rituals and traditions among the animist ethnic groups.

Pictured below is Robert Villanueva, Ego’s grave 1993; installation and associated performance; carved earth figure in outdoor pit; glazed terracotta; installation view at the ‘1st Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, September 1993. © Estate of the artist; image courtesy: Queensland Art Gallery ׀ Gallery of Modern Art (QAGOMA)

He won critical recognition for Archetypes: Cordillera Labyrinth set up on the Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) grounds in the summer of 1989. Forty-five metres in diameter and 600 metres in length, the installation consisted of a spiral labyrinth made of bamboo and reeds. Its centre was covered with rocks from a river bed, creating a sacred space peopled with spirit figures from which life power emanates.

Another installation was Atang ti Kararua (Soul Offerings) consisting of three bamboo floats carrying offerings on a lake for the souls of those who perished in the big Baguio earthquake. The artists also conducted a ceremony with a shaman to pacify the spirit of Mount Pinatubo.

Roberto Villanueava tries to restore the communal function of art and the priminitve life force it originally possessed but which still survives in Cordillera mountain culture. He also seeks to recover and understand the animistic strain in the heart of Philippine culture.

In 1990 he was invited to New York as Artist-In-Residence of the New York State Council of the Arts and in 1992 won the CCP Thirteen Artists Award.

A recent work, Bridge Across Cultures, which the artist did in Saitama-ku, Japan, shows his preference for setting up water installations to symbolize migration routes linking different cultures. His work acquires an anthropological aspect, calling to mind the celebrated sea voyage of the Kon-Tiki across the Pacific.

With his use of organic materials and natural locations, together with community interaction, Roberto Villanueva creates an art that is integrated with the life of the people.

A reprinted from The First Asia-Pacific Triennial catalogue; written by Alice Guillermo. After the Triennial, Roberto Villanueva was diagnosed to have leukemia. He continued creating art until his death in February 1995.

Survival, Wisdom and Indigenous Digital Culture in Kindred Spirit Magazine, Darlington England, 2005.

Thompson’s article Survival, Wisdom and Indigenous Digital Culture was featured in the Kindred Spirit Magazine of Darlington England in its September/October 2005 issue. See the reprint below.

Kindred Spirit Magazine of Darlington England

Kindred Spirit has been the UK’s go-to guide to spiritual and compassionate living for over 25 years. It combines ancient wisdom with practical advice from contemporary teachers and authors. The magazine showcases new healing modalities, shares insightful interviews with the leading lights of the  Mind, Body & Spirit world, and reports investigations and the latest discoveries in the field of spirituality, well-being and the inner workings of the human mind. KS is a source of information, inspiration and contemplation.

Kindred Spirit was founded in 1987 by Richard Beaumont and Patricia Yates, following the inspiration of ‘The Harmonic Convergence’ in which thousands of spiritual seekers gathered at sacred sites throughout the world. Seeing so many different people and spiritual paths, yet sensing a common direction of deep respect for natural wisdom and a yearning for higher truth, Patricia and Richard created Kindred Spirit to offer a platform to serve such wisdom and higher truths. While the founders have now moved onto different paths and projects, the magazine keeps their wonderful vision alive.

Since the very first issue published in November 1987 the magazine has featured all kinds of discoveries, whether they be in the field of spirituality or physical health and well-being or revelations concerning the inner workings of the human mind. New and progressive forms of complementary healthcare such as Zero Balancing and Holographic Re-patterning appear in Kindred Spirit next to articles on angels and the latest explanation of the workings of Stonehenge. We featured ground-breaking stories such as the inner temple of Damanhur, the psychic surgery of John of God, and the link between our genetic conditioning and the I-Ching – years before such news hits the mainstream publications.

Since summer 2014 Kindred Spirit has become part of Watkins Books, London’s oldest and largest esoteric bookshop founded in 1893 by John Watkins. Kindred Spirit continues to offer a variety of wisdoms, investigations and windows into the huge remit that comes under the title of Mind, Body and Spirit. We are here to put forward some of the alternatives, in line with a natural wisdom that elevates us all.