bīskabiyang (2022)
Created through support from the Polygon Gallery’s Response Program.
Video, 5m 59s.
The Polygon Gallery | Vancouver, BC.

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Artist Statement

For me, soft action is bīskabiyang. Leanne Betasamosake Simpson describes this as a collective process of ‘returning to ourselves’. For nimaamaa and I, we are learning that this journey of finding and (re)connecting to a multiplicity of beings and places comes with many responsibilities. It is a process of nurturing many homes – our bodies, our spirits, our families and communities, our plant, animal and earthly kin, as well as our first home, Mother Earth.

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Artist’s Talk

Filmmaker Jules Arita Koostachin in conversation with Caleb Ellison-Dysart and Jacqueline Morrisseau-Addison about Indigenous methodology in filmmaking, with a focus on process and protocols when making films in community. Click here to listen.

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About Response: Soft Action

“Response: Soft Action is the culmination of the 2021 Response program, a collaboration between The Polygon Gallery and First Nations Student Services and the Indigenous Digital Filmmaking Program at Capilano University. Participants engaged in a series of workshops led by Indigenous artists and Knowledge Holders during summer and fall 2021.

Inspired by growing networks of care among arts communities throughout the pandemic, participants were invited to think about how care translates into action, and the ways in which relationships shape our ways of being.

The video works produced by participants will be on view from January 26–February 6. The projects share stories and activate conversations about holding space for oneself and others, through a wide range of approaches that reflect on themes such as time, belonging, and compassion.

Images flow between stillness and migration, while voices capture fleeting moments, then weave broader narratives connecting generations past and future towards healing and resolution. Through gestures chosen with care and deeply felt, Soft Action considers how we hold ourselves and others within our communities near and far.” (Polygon Gallery)