To move between: Healing and Resistance | Alanis Obomsawin in conversation with Edith Amituanai

Alanis Obomsawin and Edith Amituanai: In Conversation

Join Abenaki filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin in conversation with Edith Amituanai, as they expand Obomsawin's solo exhibition and its key impulses of healing and resistance. The two artists will work through these themes in a discussion of process, the spheres of education and care work, and the potential for art's impact on wider society.

This event will take place at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in the auditorium.
Booking is encouraged but not essential.

BIOGRAPHIES

Alanis Obomsawin is a member of the Abenaki Nation,one of Canada’s most distinguished filmmakers, and a leader of the Indigenous struggle. Alanis Obomsawin is a director and producer at the National Film Board of Canada, where she has worked since 1967. Her upcoming films are Wabano: The Light of the Day and The Green Horse (working title). These films will be her 56th and 57th films in a career now spanning 56 years, devoted to chronicling the lives and concerns of First Nations people and exploring issues of importance to all. Her body of work includes such landmark films as Kanehsatake: 270 Years of Resistance (1993), documenting the 1990 Kanien’kéhaka (Mohawk) uprising in Kanehsatake and Oka, as well as her groundbreaking Incident at Restigouche (1984), a behind-the-scenes look at Quebec police raids on a Mi’kmaq reserve. Obomsawin will receive the Edward MacDowell Medal this year, recognising individuals who have made significant cultural contributions. She is the first woman filmmaker to receive this award in its 63-year history. In 2021, the Toronto International Film Festival presented Obomsawin with the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media, recognising leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. In 2020, Obomsawin received the Rogers-DOC Luminary Award at the DOC Institute Awards, and the Glenn Gould Prize.

Edith Amituanai is a New Zealand-born Sāmoan photographer working from the suburb of Ranui, Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland. From interiors to driveways to communities, Amituanai’s practice is concerned with the environments that shape who we are. She was the inaugural recipient of the Marti Friedlander Photography Award, and the following year was the first Walters Prize nominee of Pacific descent. In 2019 she staged her first major survey exhibition at Te Pātaka Toi Adam Art Gallery in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington and has exhibited widely in Aotearoa and internationally. Amituanai is a member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to photography and community and her work is held in numerous collections including Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery and Queensland Art Gallery.

WHAT TO EXPECT

This event is free.
This event is held at the Auckland Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki in the auditorium which has pitched seating.
This location is accessible.
It will be seated and microphoned.
There will be a brief Q and A at the end of the conversation.
Light refreshments will be served following the conversation.