Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective
Kitchen Party
Presented by AGAVF & Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective
Victoria Row
Saturday, September 23, 2017 - 7:30-11pm
L’Association des groupes en arts visuels francophones (AGAVF) is a national arts service organisation that represents visual arts groups active in Francophone communities outside the province of Quebec. Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective (IPAC) serves Prince Albert, SK and links Indigenous and Métis artists and communities to promote social change.
Together, they host a musical gathering and serve up some “edutainment”, collaboratively exploring how the kitchen party is deeply rooted in the cultural histories of both Acadien and Métis peoples.
IPAC will bring three Saskatchewan artists to collaborate in this project: Kevin Wesaquate (Indigenous spoken word artist from Saskatoon), Tristen Durocher (a young Metis fiddler) and Modeste McKenzie (Metis jigger and cultural interpreter, both Metis artists from La Ronge Sk). These artists will perform integrated traditional and contemporary collaborations of spoken word, jigging and fiddling through impromptu pop up installations throughout downtown Charlottetown.
Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective - Performance
Victoria Row
Saturday, September 23, 2017 - 1:30-2:30pm
IPAC will be investigating elements of cultural and artistic exchange: exploring the influences and adaptations of the “Kitchen Party” since early contact of eastern Canadian settlers with western Indigenous peoples. We have found that Kitchen Parties are deeply rooted in the cultural histories of both the Maritime and Metis people. This is where stories were told, songs shared and dances performed, which have helped to define Maritime, Metis, and Indigenous cultures as a whole. Many of same songs and dances are performed by these groups, but with distinctions specific to their unique ways of speaking, and of being on the land. Sharing interpretations of land and language, through their songs and dance, has created shifts in both cultures over time. Reforming characteristics of these practices still integral to Maritime and Metis cultures today. There is opportunity to collaboratively explore the similarities and differences within these traditions, exposing audiences to the relationship between the Indigenous people of northern Saskatchewan prairies and Prince Edward Island.
ABOUT THE ARTISTS
IPAC would like to bring three Saskatchewan artists to collaborate in this project: Kevin Wesaquate (Indigenous spoken word artist from Saskatoon), Tristen Durocher (a young Metis fiddler) and Modeste McKenzie (Metis jigger and cultural interpreter, both Metis artists from La Ronge Sk). These artists will perform integrated traditional and contemporary collaborations of spoken word, jigging and fiddling through impromptu pop up installations throughout downtown Charlottetown.
Michel Boutin is a Canadien/Metis interdisciplinary artist, arts educator and cultural animateur based out of Prince Albert, SK. He received his B.F.A. in Drawing and Sculpture with minors in Film History and Sociology from the University of Regina in 1995. Michel has recently had his works showcased in London, England. Michel is the founder and current Artistic Director for IPAC.
Kevin Wesaquate is originally from Piapot First Nation, and currently resides in Saskatoon, SK. Kevin is currently employed as the Aboriginal Arts Leader at Saskatoon Community Youth Arts Programming (SCYAP), as well as the Artist/Writer-in-Residence at Saskatoon Polytechnic and the creator and Artistic Director of the Indigenous Poetry Society. Kevin is a poet/painter/welder and spoken word artist presently working on manuscript for publication in the near future. Kevin is the Spoken Word Facilitator for the Write Out Loud organization. Kevin enjoys working with youth and encourages youth to express themselves artistically. Kevin has been apart of IPAC programming in the past, and has helped to initiate a spoken word initiative in Prince Albert, SK.
Tristen Durocher is an accomplished Metis fiddle player and photographer who resides in La Ronge, SK and hails from Buffalo Narrows. As a young up and coming artist, Tristen has participated in many projects surrounding his passion for fiddles, Metis Traditional music and landscape photography, including numerous fiddling competitions, festivals, soundtracks and documentaries. Tristen will explore using his craft in new ways as he delves into the practice of performance arts with the Indigenous Peoples Artist Collective in the fall in Prince Albert, SK and Charlottetown, PE.
Modeste Mackenzie is a much sought after Dene-Metis jigger and cultural interpreter who resides in La Ronge, SK. This award-winning dancer was trained by acclaimed artists such as Maria Campbell, from a young age growing up in Cumberland House, SK. This community was one of the first settlement depots for the early voyagers while sailing along the Athabasca. Carrying his heritage with him Modeste has been involved in many competitions, acquiring first place with his group the Northern Prairie Dancers, (a group he began while working at the Prince Albert Women of the Earth Society) in the traditional category of Back to Batoche Days in 2011. Also in 2011, Modeste was appointed one of the youngest jury members in SaskCulture’s history. Modeste was also involved in New Dance Horizons, a prestigious dance company in Regina, SK. Modeste continues to push boundaries, and hopes to integrate the traditions and teachings of Metis heritage into the fabric of modern reality.