Join us for a discussion with artist Sky Hopinka on his latest documentary project, larger art practice, and involvement with the In Plain Sight initiative.
Artist Sky Hopinka will discuss his latest documentary project maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore, along with his larger art practice and involvement in the FA 20 In Plain Sight initiative. A secure link to the documentary will be provided to those who RSVP to screen in advance of the event.
maɬni – towards the ocean, towards the shore follows Sweetwater Sahme and Jordan Mercier's wanderings through each of their worlds as they wander through and contemplate the afterlife, rebirth, and the place in-between. Spoken mostly in chinuk wawa, their stories are departures from the Chinookan origin of death myth, with its distant beginning and circular shape.
Sky Hopinka was born and raised in Ferndale, Washington and spent a number of years in Palm Springs and Riverside, California, Portland, Oregon, and is currently based out of Vancouver B.C. and Milwaukee, WI. In Portland he studied and taught chinuk wawa, a language indigenous to the Lower Columbia River Basin. His video work centers around personal positions of Indigenous homeland and landscape, designs of language as containers of culture, and the play between the known and the unknowable. He received his BA from Portland State University in Liberal Arts and his MFA in Film, Video, Animation, and New Genres from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and currently teaches at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Learn more about the WE LIVE! Memories of Resistance exhibition and related programming
This event is cosponsored by Oxy Arts, The Media Arts & Culture Department, and the Music Department with generous support from the Remsen-Bird Fund.