City Subscriptions

 DPAC sponsors MADWEYAASHKAA: WAVES CAN BE HEARD projected art showing  

[Duluth, MN]The Duluth Public Arts Commission (DPAC) is sponsoring an animation art showing by Duluth-based artist Moira Villiard. The animation will be shown at the Washington Center, on June 17 – 19 from 9:00 – 11:00 p.m. The events are free and open to the public.

Madweyaashkaa: Waves Can be Heard by Moira Villiard who is a Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe direct descendent, celebrates the resilience of Indigenous women on a spectacular scale. An animation projected onto the back wall of the Washington Recreational Center will be synced with a soundscape featuring music by Lyz Jaakola (Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe) and a recorded narrative by Dakota/Ojibway First Nation elder Millie Richard. 

With images of the Grandmother moon (Nokomis), fire, earth, water, and the jingle dress dance entwined in swirling colors, the piece will explore themes of homecoming and finding connection within ourselves to culture, to ancestors, and to nature, no matter how far away we may sometimes feel. From an Ojibwe perspective, it is as a reminder that Nokomis is always around, an elder always ready for us to reach out and willing to hear what’s in our hearts. For non-native viewers, this piece is a reminder to honor our shared natural resources and to perhaps reflect on our different community understandings of healing and connection during the course of the pandemic.

“This is my first creation using animation as the main medium and I’m happy to bring it back to Duluth. As with the piece’s debut in Minneapolis, I sincerely hope the piece literally illuminates a message of hope and clarity for whomever needs to hear it at this moment.” -- Moira Villiard

###

PROGRAM DETAILS

Madweyaashkaa: Waves Can Be Heard by Moira Villiard, 2021 

June 17, 18, 19

9pm - 11pm

Washington Recreational Center (outside)

310 N 1st Ave W

Street parking available.

Free to attend

Production notes:

Moira Villiard is a self-taught, dynamic visual artist, Fond du Lac Band of Ojibwe direct descendent, and current Minnesota-based community organizer.

Additional artist credits: Sound effects and audio production by JayGee of DanSan Creatives. Hand drum and vocals by Lyz Jaakola. Projection and process mentoring by Jonathan Thunder.

Madweyaashkaa was originally presented as part of Bring Her Home: Sacred Womxn of Resistance, an annual exhibition at All My Relations Arts gallery that invites Indigenous artists to reflect on the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women.

A note on place and language:

Onigamiising, “place of the small portage”, or present day Duluth, is made up of land that was cared for and called home by the Ojibwe people, before them the Dakota and Northern Cheyenne people, and other Native peoples from time immemorial. Ceded by the Ojibwe in an 1854 treaty, this land holds great historical, spiritual, and personal significance for its original stewards, the Native nations and peoples of this region.