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Opening Reception: Friday, December 13 at 7pm
On December 13 at 7pm, we welcome you to the opening of Tatanga Uhpe (Bison Teacher), a collaborative installation by Soloman Chiniquay and jaz whitford. Premised on interviews published in newspapers in Mînî Thnî (Morley, Alberta) in the ’60s and ’70s, the project combines 16mm and 35mm film, sound recordings, archival materials, hide, still photographs, and painting, echoing teachings from past, current, and future conditions for bison pertaining to the people of Treaty 7.
Following the opening on Friday, December 13, the installation is open to the public from Tuesday, December 17 to Thursday, December 19, 12-6pm at VIVO Media Arts Centre.
Banner Photo: Soloman Chiniquay, Tatanga Uphe (film still).
VIVO is located in the homelands of the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) peoples in a warehouse space at 2625 Kaslo Street south of East Broadway at the end of E 10th. Transit line 9 stops at Kaslo Street on Broadway. From the bus stop, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight decline. The closest skytrain station is Renfrew Station, which is three blocks south-east of VIVO and has an elevator. From there, the path is paved, curbless, and on a slight incline. There is parking available at VIVO, including wheelchair access parking. There is a bike rack at the entrance. The front entrance leads indoors to a set of 7 stairs to the lobby.
A wheelchair ramp is located at the west side of the main entrance. The ramp has two runs: the first run is 20 feet long, and the second run is 26 feet. The ramp is 60 inches wide. The slope is 1:12. The ramp itself is concrete and has handrails on both sides. There is an outward swinging door (34 inch width) at the top of the ramp leading to a vestibule. A second outward swinging door (33 inch width) opens into the exhibition space. Buzzers and intercoms are located at both doors to notify staff during regular office hours or events to unlock the doors. Once unlocked, visitors can use automatic operators to open the doors.
There are two all-gender washrooms. One has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The other is a single room with a urinal and is wheelchair accessible: the door is 33 inches wide and inward swinging, without automation. The toilet has 11 inch clearance on the left side and a handrail.
To reach the bathrooms from the studio, exit through the double doors and proceed straight through the lobby and down the hall . Turn left, and the two bathrooms will be on your right side. The closest one has a stall and is not wheelchair accessible. The far bathroom is accessible.
Soloman Chiniquay is an afro indigenous documentary photographer and filmmaker from the Stoney Nakoda and Pomo tribes living between xʷməθkʷəy̓əm, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh, səl̓ilwətaɁɬ territory and his homelands of Treaty 7 territory. His lens-based work witnesses expressions of Indigeneity, creating imagery that attempts to candidly explore the land and the people, the ways people use and connect to the land, and the artifacts they leave on it.
jaz whitford is a secwe̓pemc and mixed settler interdisciplinary artist who embodies anti-professionalism and anti-colonialism as a way to move toward a future where indigenous knowledge and ways of being are not only respected, but valued and revered. using a range of materials, forms, and mediums, they work to investigate and express their lived experience and understanding of spirituality, resistance, ancestral connections, and community care.