Waawaate Fobister and TJ Henhawk discussing their photo.
Photos provided by Nadya Kwandibens.
Last Wednesday evening was the opening of Nadya Kwandibens exhibit for her Concrete Indian series at Wychwood Barns. It was a part of the Creator Within events put on by ANDVPA and was in the community gallery. It was a smaller gallery space that was filled up with community members supporting Kwandibens and her exhibit.
There were approximately ten of the photos in her series shown, with about seven subjects and I was blessed enough to be one of them. The five of us in attendance had an opportunity to go up and discuss our collaboration with Kwandibens regarding our contribution to the Concrete Indians series.
Here are my two photographs that were a part of the exhibit. Initially when I heard of the project, where you were to define what it meant to be Native in a city and how would you like to portray that experience, I was unsure. I had lots of great ideas but no one felt quite right for me. I suddenly remembered that I had access to a Mohawk wedding dress from the 1920s. It was a beautiful dress and was so generously given to me to wear for the day. In another ironic twist, this dress belonged to my ex-boyfriend.
Once I thought about the dress I knew exactly what to shoot. I chose to shoot at the busiest intersection in Toronto at the Yonge and Dundas Square to give a real contrast between the old and the new. I had been in fashion school a few years ago and had envisioned this line that came from a Native woman being placed in a modern city transplanted from the mid 19th century and what she would come up with to construct for her clothing. Thus an idea is born. Here I am as that Native woman.
The other part of this idea was that I am usually downtown Toronto hanging out on King Street West out for fancy cocktails or dinner at a beautiful restaurant. No one that meets me in that environment would know that I am Native. I felt like I blended into the multi-cultural mosaic that is Toronto and that the only way people would recognize me as Native is if I somehow emulated their vision of what a native woman looks like (beaded bucksin). So the imagery is a part of those pre-conceived stereutypical constructs that non-Natives place onto all of Native women today. I even overheard someone say while shooting "Look Pocahontas is crossing the street." One of the only ways that I as a Native women living in the city can be recognized as such is to don stereotypical garb that non-Natives can recognize.
Nadya Kwandibens and I in front of her work.
The Concrete Indian subjects crew with Nods.
Michaela Washburn, Nadya Kwandibens, Waawaate Fobister, Moi, TJ Henhawk, Jessica Yee.
It was the first time Nadya's Concrete Indian series had it's own solo exhibit in Toronto and it was so timely given the release of the this Magazine piece. Big up to Association for Native Development in the Performing & Visual Arts (ANDVPA) for making such a night happen.
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