WHO: Penny Couchie, Sid Bobb and artists of Aanmitaagzi
WHEN: Wednesday, September 11 1-4 pm | Thursday, September 12 6 – 9 pm | Friday, September 13 1 – 4 pm | Saturday, September 14 2 – 3 pm
WHERE: Arts Court Courtroom, 2 Daly Avenue, Ottawa K1N 6E2
FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
Canoe Journeys is a part of Aanmitaagzi’s multi year project, Where Does Art Begin? Where Does Art Begin? researches, develops and creates art in and around our indigenous arts and culture: harvesters, story tellers, maker, knowledge keepers and performers. The thematic catalyst explores where does one begin and the other end? Is it art when we are gathering the material? Does it begin when we prepare ourselves for the gathering?
Where Does Art Begin? engages the artists of Aanmitaagzi, the community/artists of Nipissing First Nation / North Bay and our related communities, both regionally, nationally and internationally. This multi-platform project involves community-engaged workshops, intensives, site-specific art events and performances.
Canoe Journeys is a multi-arts installation and performance. While weaving stories and motifs from community member and artist’s experiences and perspectives, environmental
relationships, and traditional indigenous stories, the space is transformed through light,
projection, sound, and film footage.
Canoe Journeys creates art in relation to the processes of building a birchbark canoe and the stories that travel alongside. Where do We Come From? Where Are We Going? What Carries Us? Community, audience and participants are invited to come and activate the space with movement, song, dance, poetry, or engage with the continuation of weaving roots, shaping bark, and mixing pitch. Three days of making, Sept 11, 12, 13, will culminate in an interactive performative event on Sept 14, 2019.
Penny Couchie is a dancer, actor, teacher, choreographer and community arts practitioner of Ojibway and Mohawk ancestry from Nipissing First Nation, Ontario. She holds an Honors BA in Aboriginal Studies and Drama from the University of Toronto and is a graduate of The School of Toronto Dance Theatre.
Penny has performed as a dancer and theatre artist in principal roles both nationally and internationally. She has guest taught at universities and colleges throughout Canada and the US, including the Centre for Indigenous Theatre, where she has been a core faculty member since 1998. From 1998 to 2003 she participated in the Aboriginal Dance Project at the Banff Centre for the Arts as a student, choreographer and teacher.
SID BOBBSid Bobb is a Gemini award-winning actor from Salish territory in British Columbia. Combining his cultural knowledge and experience as an actor and teacher, Sid has been committed to helping bring Aboriginal stories and culture to the forefront. He firmly believes that this necessary endeavor will strengthen our Aboriginal communities and help create a healthier relationship with our Canadian neighbours.
Sid is a graduate of the University of Toronto’s sociology and drama programs, attended the Second Cityschool of training, the Banff Centre for the Arts‘ Aboriginal Dance Project and the Native Theatre School (presently known as the Centre for Indigenous Theatre.
