Join us for the latest in our series of CONVERSATIONS ON ART IN A PANDEMIC, to hear an interview with renowned Curve Lake textile artist ALICE OLSEN WILLIAMS, by artist, writer, and curator CAROLINE LANGILL.
Listen in, exclusively on PETEROROUGH ARTS ALIVE ON SLACK, EC3's artist-focused, artist-led discussion space on social messaging platform Slack.
Sign up link: https://join.slack.com/t/peterborougha-dvb4729/shared_invite/zt-fwn7yvxg-BWlnEcH0jTY8HbpqtoMZeQ
More info: http://www.ecthree.org/program/peterborough-arts-alive-on-slack/
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PETERBOROUGH ARTS ALIVE ON SLACK
During this crisis, EC3 has heard from artists who sometimes feel they are not being consulted properly or enough when it comes to relief and recovery programs. Others have said they are still trying to figure out exactly what their needs are at this time and what support they need. Others have expressed a basic and urgent desire to reach out and connect with others who are going through similar things as they are as professional artists, citizens and human beings.
Peterborough Arts Alive on SLACK is a new digital space where artists can have these kinds of conversations: speaking about their challenges and opportunities during this strange time, sharing resources and ideas, and helping each other out. This space, which EC3 will be hosting on the social messaging platform SLACK, will be artist-focused and artist-led.
Local artist Christy Haldane will curate and moderate the SLACK discussion workplace. In addition to freeform conversation, every week Christy will post a topical question. EC3 has also commissioned artists Annie Jaegar, Victoria Ward and Esther Vincent to produce micro-essays, to help stimulate conversation and get the ball rolling, and we hope many of you will join in as well.
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ALICE OLSEN WILLIAMS
Alice Olsen Williams is renowned for her unique quilted textile works that blend expressions of Anishinaabe beliefs and ideology with reflections on contemporary social issues. Her distinctive style is grounded in the traditional skills of beadwork and sewing of the Anishinaabe people, and the unique symbols and themes of her culture. Alice's creative vision in quilt design focuses on the central placement of animals and birds, which figure prominently in the lives of the Anishinaabeg. She also uses the beautiful floral motifs that Anishinaabe-Kwewag continue to use in their beadwork, quillwork, embroidery and other creative media. Surrounding her central designs are the conventional North American quilting blocks which were introduced by the first European Settlers, and continue to be developed by contemporary quilt artisans. Alice combines the knowledge and appreciation of both her Norwegian and Anishinaabe ancestry with new materials, to syncretize wonderful expressions in cultural meaning, the healing arts and indigenous activism.
Alice was born in Trout Lake, 150 miles north of Kenora Ontario, Canada, in the traditional Anishinaabe territory of her mother's people for millennia, long before Euro-colonization. Even as a child Alice had a delight for fabrics, creating small sewing projects that would later become her passion. She received her teaching certificate from Lakehead University in Thunder Bay and taught there and at Pic Mobert First Nation before moving to Curve Lake First Nation. Alice completed her B.A. at Trent University in Peterborough, and with her discovery of the quilting process in 1980, went on to formulate the concepts which would be the basis for her distinctive style, and to master the beadwork and sewing techniques which allow her to create her meticulous hand-quilted designs. She also keeps extremely busy with her beautiful family of four children, seven grandchildren and one great-grandson!
http://www.pimaatisiwin-quilts.com/bio.html
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CAROLINE LANGILL
Caroline Langill is a Peterborough-based artist, writer and curator. Langill’s interests in non-canonical art histories, gender studies and Indigenous epistemologies have led her to writing and exhibition-making that could be considered post-disciplinary. She is a respected curator, a published researcher in the field of media art histories, and has held administrative and governance positions in a number of artist-run centres.
In addition to a General Studies diploma from Ontario College of Art (now OCAD University), Langill holds an Honours B.Sc. from Carleton University, an MFA from York University and a PhD in Canadian Studies from Trent University.
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