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Performances, Free Event

Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᏕᎫᏗ Performance by Elisa Harkins with Hanako Hoshimi-Caines and Zoë Poluch

Join us for Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᏕᎫᏗ, an ongoing project (2017 – present) where artist Elisa Harkins sings in a combination of Cherokee, English and Muscogee Creek to electronic dance music, some of which is inspired by of sheet music of Indigenous music notated by Daniel Chazanoff during the 20th century.  As an act of Indigenous Futurism, this performance combines disco and Indigenous language in an effort to alter the fate of these endangered languages through active use, preservation on pressed vinyl and radio play.  This iteration of Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᏕᎫᏗ will include dancers Hanako Hoshimi-Caines and Zoë Poluch.

Harkins is a Native American (Cherokee/Muscogee) artist and composer originally hailing from Miami, Oklahoma. Her work is concerned with translation, language preservation, and Indigenous musicology. Harkins is currently a mentor at the School of the Art Institute Chicago, she is a Tulsa Artist Fellow, and she is an enrolled member of the Muscogee (Creek) tribe.  She is also a feature artist in AGGV’s current exhibition Tender Works which runs through until February 23.

Hanako Hoshimi-Caines is a dancer and choreographer based in Montréal. She is engaged with dance, performance making and philosophy as a way to see, feel and love better.

Zoë Poluch, originally from Canada, based now in Stockholm, Sweden, moves through different institutions and independent groupings dedicated to dancing and thinking choreography together.

Doors open at 6:30pm | Open to the public.

This project is a collaboration with Open Space Artist-Run Centre.

Image credit for above images: Elisa Harkins, Wampum / ᎠᏕᎳ ᏗᏕᎫᏗ Performance 2019, courtesy of the artist. Photos by Ian Byers-Gamber.