 Hi, art lovers! | | |  | Jeffrey Flores | | | I have a podcast reco for you, and if you never leave the house without your AirPods, it’s going to be the perfect thing for your Sunday. Eighty Thousand Steps is a new interactive adventure from Vancouver-raised writer Crystal Chan, and we premiered it on the site last week. To hear it, you’ll want to download the app (via Google Play or the Apple Store). And then, well, you’ll have to go for a walk.
Walking is just a part of the storytelling experience. In fact, the app was built for it. (It syncs up with your phone’s pedometer so the audio only plays when you’re in motion.)
Why is that important? There’s a very personal reason behind that artistic choice, so before you dive into the journey, I’d suggest reading this in-depth essay by Crystal, who based the podcast on tales her grandmother would tell her when she was small.
Another CBC Arts premiere to share: watch Leanne Betasamosake Simpson’s cover of Willie Dunn’s I Pity the Country, which arrived just ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Leanne and the video’s co-directors, Lisa Jackson and Conor McNally, spoke with CBC Arts about the project, and how they aimed to honour and capture the legacy of Indigenous resistance. Read that conversation here. CBC marked the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation yesterday with a lineup of Indigenous-led programming. Much of that content is now available online, including CBC Gem’s Truth & Reconciliation Collection, a library of docs, features and series honouring the history, heritage and diversity of First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples. | | | | | And because we promised you eye candy ... | | | | |  | Dana Claxton | | Dana Claxton is this year’s winner of the Audain Prize, a $100,000 award that recognizes a senior artist’s contributions to the arts. She was on The Current last week to discuss the prize — and the role of art in reconciliation. This image is from her 2018-2019 series Headdress, a project she referred to while discussing how her artwork challenges stereotypes. “My hope is that [viewers will] think: Well, what am I looking at? What is this stuff? What does it mean? And what’s my relationship, not only to the material culture of Indigenous people, but what is my relationship to Indigenous people?” | | | | |  | Angela DeMontigny | | All Our Relations, a public art project led by Cree-Métis artist Angela DeMontigny, was unveiled at Pier 8 on Hamilton’s waterfront yesterday. The piece is comprised of five panels (that are each 40 feet tall) illustrated with glass-bead designs that reference Indigenous teachings (more on the meaning behind the designs here). | | | | |  | Cheyenne Rain LeGrande | | You’re looking at Mullyanne Nȋmito Maskotêw by Cheyenne Rain LeGrande, who’s among the nominees for the 2023-24 Salt Spring National Art Prize. Dazzled by what she’s wearing in the photo? Cheyenne made that shawl using tabs from old beer and pop cans. In this 2022 Q&A, Cheyenne, who’s a Nehiyaw Isko artist from Bigstone Cree Nation, talked about some of the ideas that inspired it. “Fancy Shawl is a traditional powwow dance from my territory. It’s important for me to embed my identity with what I create. I wasn’t raised around traditional dances, so I felt like being able to reuse an object, and recycle it, spoke to how I would create a fancy shawl if I could. It also felt like armour, because it’s made of aluminum.” | | | | |  | Courtesy of Séamus Gallagher | | | | | Now in the running for Canada’s top art prize, Séamus Gallagher started grad school this fall. “It’s definitely helped my imposter syndrome,” they laugh. | | | | |  | Sanaz Mazinani | | | | | Sanaz Mazinani's new exhibition is the result of that experiment. An Impossible Perspective is appearing at the Stephen Bulger Gallery in Toronto until Nov. 4. | | | | |  | Jocelyn Prescod/Netflix | | | | | | | The Netflix series Survival of the Thickest is the story of a fat woman living her best life, and after watching just one episode, CBC Arts contributor Shailee Koranne realized something huge: she’d never seen anything like it. | | |  | Emily Kewageshig | | Emily designed CBC’s National Day of Truth and Reconciliation logo in 2021. (Read about that project here.) Since then, she’s been busy with lots of big assignments. I mean, just look at this — an entire basketball court! Emily painted it with youth from Sheguiandah First Nation on Manitoulin Island. | | | | | Share this newsletter | | or subscribe if this was
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Oh! One more thing before I go! Who’s in Toronto and looking for something to do on Tuesday night? Meridian Hall will be hosting a sneak preview of Swan Song, a new documentary series that follows Karen Kain and the National Ballet of Canada as they bring Swan Lake to the stage. (Maybe you remember hearing about it at TIFF?) CBC will be airing the series in November, but for Tuesday night’s event, several of the featured dancers (including Karen Kain) plus filmmakers Chelsea McMullan and Sean O’Neill will be in the house for a moderated chat. There’ll be a live performance, too. Info here!
I’m Leah Collins, senior writer at CBC Arts. Until next time! | | | | | |
