What a night!

Gallery 1C03 is eager to send out another great big thank you to Maria Campbell, Ryan McMahon, Niigonwedom Sinclair, and Wab Kinew for sharing ideas and stories that came together to create a truly wonderful evening! We'd also like to thank The University of Winnipeg's Aboriginal Governance Program and Urban Shaman Gallery for being such fantastic presentation partners.

Finally, to everyone who joined us: thank you!! Your participation was key to our success. A room full of great people ready to take in both meaningful insights and satisfying bawdy humour is exactly what we had hoped for.

It will take approximately three weeks for the video footage we recorded to be compressed into a web-friendly format, and we'll be sure to make the URL known to you as soon as it becomes available. So, if you weren't able to join us -- don't worry! You haven't missed out =-).

In the meantime, here are a few pics...

Issa Nyaphaga to perform at the University of Winnipeg TONIGHT!

We just keep going and going!

Less than one week after Humour in Indigenous Cultures, we're thrilled to offer more thoughtful and inspiring programming for everyone on UW campus and beyond.

Please join us tonight for a free event made possible through a rewarding collaboration with Alliance Française du Manitoba's African Arts Festival, Afri'k, as well as promotional consideration generously contributed by Global College at the University of Winnipeg. Together, we proudly present Cameroonian artist and human rights activist,

Issa Nyaphaga

Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Performance: 7:00 – 8:00; Discussion 8:00 – 8:30
Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, 3rd Floor Centennial Hall
University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Avenue

We look forward to seeing you!

Humour in Indigenous Cultures ... TONIGHT!

Hey people on the interwebs!!

Just a reminder that our fantastic evening of thoughtful laughs is scheduled to happen TONIGHT! So, join us for:

Humour in Indigenous Cultures
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave

Our featured guests include:

• University of Winnipeg Carol Shields Writer in Residence Maria Campbell
• Comedian Ryan McMahon (aka Clarence Two Toes)
• Indigenous Literatures scholar Niigonwedom J. Sinclair

Our MC for the evening will be:

• Local Renaissance man about town Wab Kinew

It'll be fantastic! Come early to get a great seat =-)

Everett Soop exhibition coverage on APTN National News

Hot off the interwebs is APTN National News reporter, Martha Troian's, fantastic and detailed report on G1C03's presentation of "Everett Soop: Journalist, Cartoonist Activist". The spot aired on television last night, and can be found on APTN's website.

Check it out right here... (54:29 - 57:11 min).

Thank you again, Martha!

Gallery 1C03 at The University of Winnipeg proudly presents Cameroonian artist and activist Issa Nyaphaga

Gallery 1C03 to host one-night performance and exhibition by Cameroonian artist and activist Issa Nyaphaga in partnership with Alliance Française du Manitoba and The University of Winnipeg’s Global College on Wednesday, March 25, 2009. This event is part of Afri’k! – a city-wide African arts festival organized by Alliance Française du Manitoba.


Issa Nyaphaga is a politically active visual artist and poet from Cameroon who was imprisoned and later forced out of his homeland for producing political cartoons that challenged the authority of a corrupt regime. His unique multi-disciplinary practice includes humorous drawings, collages and found object sculptures, graphic research, performance, and a painting technique he calls “capillarism,” which involves the incorporation of human hair.

In 1996, Nyaphaga departed for France, where he was granted political asylum, and where he has continued to establish himself as an artist. He is a vocal spokesperson for human rights and, to recognize his committed to helping refugees, he was invited to speak before the French National Assembly on the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Convention on the Status of Refugees. He lives between France and the United States, and travels worldwide to perform and present his work.

Over the years, Nyaphaga has developed a philosophical performance concept that he calls “Urban Way,” which involves the ritualistic painting of his face, arms, and feet, while accompanied by live music, as an act of protest against his inability to return home freely. Each dot he paints represents people, and the lines between them represent interpersonal connections. These symbols remind him of the important lessons he learned as a child in the small village of his Tikar tribe, Nditam Ditam. This gesture will form the basis of his performance at The University of Winnipeg. He will also present a short documentary.

Gallery 1C03 and Global College (with assistance from CIDA Partnerships Branch) are pleased to welcome Nyaphaga to The University of Winnipeg and are grateful to Alliance Française du Manitoba for initiating this opportunity to witness the work of an artist so profoundly active as an advocate for human rights and social justice. Gallery 1C03 is also pleased to host Nyaphaga at a time coinciding with the presentation of an exhibition featuring political cartoons by Kainai First Nation artist, Everett Soop (1942 – 2001) -- both artists well demonstrate the potency of drawing as an effective tool for stimulating critical communication and inspiring social change.

Issa Nyaphaga
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Performance: 7:00 – 8:00; Discussion 8:00 – 8:30
Eckhardt-Gramatté Hall, 3rd Floor Centennial Hall
University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Avenue

Members of the media are invited to arrange interviews with Nyaphaga on March 24, 25, and 26, 2009.

Admission is free and all are welcome!

For more information please contact:
Milena Placentile, Art Curator, Gallery 1C03, University of Winnipeg
515 Portage Ave, Winnipeg MB R3B 2E9
204.786.9253 | m (dot) placentile (at) uwinnipeg (dot) ca
uwinnipeg.ca/index/artgallery-index | gallery1C03.blogspot.com

(Image: Issa Nyaphaga during a performance)

Humor in Indigenous Cultures

... an entertaining evening of thoughtfulness

Gallery 1C03 in co-operation with The University of Winnipeg’s Aboriginal Governance Program and Urban Shaman Gallery are thrilled to present what promises to be a fantastic evening of stand up, story telling, critical thinking, and laughter inspired by the life and work of Kainai First Nations journalist, cartoonist, and activist, Everett Soop (1943 - 2001).

Our featured guests include:

• University of Winnipeg Carol Shields Writer in Residence Maria Campbell
• Comedian Ryan McMahon (aka Clarence Two Toes)
• Indigenous Literatures scholar Niigonwedom J. Sinclair

Our MC for the evening will be:

• Local Renaissance man about town Wab Kinew

Thursday, March 19, 2009
6:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Convocation Hall, University of Winnipeg, 515 Portage Ave

Admission is free and all are welcome, so come on down and be sure come early to snag a good seat!


Bios:

MARIA CAMPBELL is an accomplished artist and cultural leader. She is a novelist, playwright, film producer and director. She has been awarded four honorary doctorates, the Distinguished Canadian Award, the Saskatchewan Order of Merit, the Molson Award from the Canada Council for the Arts, a Chalmers Award for Best New Play and a Dora Mavor Moore Award. She is currently the University of Winnipeg's Carol Shields Writer in Residence.

Based in Winnipeg, RYAN McMAHON is making a name for himself as one of the most dynamic comedy performers working in Canada today. Considered a comedian that happens to be Native, rather than a Native comedian, McMahon steers clear of cultural stereotypes onstage, and instead, his live show combines standup, improv, and sketch comedy weaving hilarious stories, characters, and a very unique and original style of comedy. A graduate of the Second City Toronto Conservatory, and armed with a degree in theatre, McMahon is unlike any other Native comedian working today in Indian Country. McMahon is the creator/performer of, “The Clarence Two Toes Radio Show” and in 2008 this podcast received close to 30 000 downloads. Featured on iTunes Canada, and having created buzz wherever it goes, McMahon’s improvised comedy podcast has opened doors for sitcom development, live shows, and more. http://www.ryanmcmahoncomedy.com.

NIIGONWEDOM J. SINCLAIR is a graduate of the Native American Literatures program at the University of Oklahoma and is currently a PhD Candidate in the Department of English at the University of British Columbia. His dissertation is an Anishnaabeg Literary History. Niigon is originally from Ste. Peter’s (Little Peguis) Indian Reserve. His creative work has appeared in Prairie Fire and Tales from Mocassin Avenue: An Anthology of Native Stories. His scholarly work will appear in three upcoming critical texts with Broadview Press, Michigan State University Press, and Wilfred Laurier Press. He also writes a monthly column entitled Birchbark Bitings in Urban NDN, Winnipeg’s alternative Aboriginal newspaper.

WAB KINEW is a musician, athlete, promoter, sundancer, producer, writer, artist and opinionated aboriginal. He was born in Kenora, ON and raised with the traditions of the Lake of the Woods Ojibwe. At 21 he graduated with a B.A. in Economics from the University of Manitoba. He has walked the line between traditional and modern all his life, never compromising his integrity or relying on anything other than his skills along the way. Wab thinks that being an activist means being active, so you can probably find him performing for or playing sports with kids, rather than at a rally or demonstration. His time is currently devoted towards being a dad to his son Dominik, his rap group Dead Indians, his work at CBC Radio. http://www.myspace.com/wabdamuss.