Events
History & Theory

World Re-Building: Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures

History & Theory
05 Nov, 2020

World Re-Building: Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures

Image credit: Skawennati, "Renewal" 2016

with Skawennati
Artist & Co-Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace

A History and Theory of New Media Lecture as part of the Indigenous Technologies initiative, co-sponsored by the Department of Art Practice and the Townsend Center for the Humanities.

Register for Zoom link here!
Or stream via YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8hq6oU__viC_fDu2lhOe7w

Video and Transcript Now Online

Click here to view the recorded seminar.

Click here to view the transcript of the video.

Skawennati will present the artwork and ideas of the Indigenously-determined research/creation networks she has helped to found, lead and coordinate.

Skawennati makes art that addresses history, the future, and change from her perspective as an urban Kanien’kehá:ka woman and as a cyberpunk avatar. She creates machinimas (movies made in virtual environments) as well as still images, textiles and sculpture. Her work has been widely presented in both group exhibitions and solo shows and is included in public and private collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.

About Skawennati

Born in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Skawennati belongs to the Turtle clan. She holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, where she is based. She is Co-Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research-creation collective who investigate and create Indigenous virtual environments. Their Skins workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling and Experimental Digital Media are aimed at empowering youth. In 2015 they launched IIF, the Initiative for Indigenous Futures.

About Indigenous Technologies

Indigenous Technologies is a program of the Berkeley Center for New Media that engages questions of technology and new media in relation to global structures of indigeneity, settler colonialism and genocide in the 21st century. Our Indigenous Tech events and ongoing conversations with Indigenous scholars and communities aim to critically envision and reimagine what a more just and sustainable technological future can look like. We will highlight Indigenous engagements with robotics, computer science, telecommunications, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, social media, online activism, video games, and more.

Read a full description of the program and find more resources here.

About the History and Theory of New Media Lecture Series

The History and Theory of New Media Lecture Series brings to campus leading humanities scholars working on issues of media transition and technological emergence. The series promotes new, interdisciplinary approaches to questions about the uses, meanings, causes, and effects of rapid or dramatic shifts in techno-infrastructure, information management, and forms of mediated expression. Presented by the Berkeley Center for New Media, these events are free and open to the public. This year, our events will all take place online via Zoom.

Fall 2020 - Spring 2021 Series Theme: Indigenous Technology

2020

09/10 | 5 — 6:30 PM | A Conversation with the Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Corrina Gould, Lisjan Ohlone leader and co-founder of the Sogorea Te' Land Trust
Moderated by Marcelo Garzo Montalvo
Register here.

POSTPONED | Advancing Hollow Bone Narratives through Media Platform Connectedness
Ruth Hopkins, Dakota/Lakota Sioux writer

11/5 | 5 — 6:30 PM | World Re-Building: Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace and the Initiative for Indigenous Futures
Skawennati, Artist & Co-Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace and Skins Workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling in Digital Media
Co-sponsored by the Department of Art Practice
Register here.

2021

2/3 | 5:00-6:30 PM | Indigenous Cyber-relationality: Discerning the Limits and Potential for Connective Action
Marisa Duarte, Assistant Professor, Arizona State University
Co-sponsored by the Center for Information Technology Research in the Interest of Society, the School of Information, and the Center for Race and Gender Studies.
Register here.

4/22 | 5:00-6:30 PM | Indigenous Games
Elizabeth LaPensée, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University
Co-sponsored by the Department of Art Practice
Register here.

Accessibility

BCNM events are free and open to the public. All of our events for the 2020-2021 academic year will be held on Zoom in English, in Pacific Standard Time (PST). We provide live-captioning in Zoom and offer a separate Streamtext window for live-captioning with options to customize text size and display. We strive to meet any additional access and accommodation needs. Please contact info.bcnm [at] berkeley.edu with requests or questions.

BCNM is proud to make conversations with leading scholars, artists, and technologists freely available to the public. Please help us continue this tradition by making a tax-deductible donation today. If you are in the position to support the program, we suggest $5 per event, or $100 a year.

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