Skawennati
Born in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Skawennati holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montréal, where she is based. Her artistic practice addresses history, the future, and change from an Indigenous perspective. Best known for her machinimas–movies made in virtual environments–she also produces still images, sculpture and textile works. Her new media projects include the online gallery/chat-space and mixed-reality event, CyberPowWow (1997-2004); a paper doll/time-travel journal, Imagining Indians in the 25th Century (2001); TimeTraveller™ (2008-2013), a multi-platform project featuring nine machinima episodes; She Falls For Ages (2017); The Peacemaker Returns (2017); and Words Before All Else (2018-2021). These have been presented in New Zealand, Hawai’i, Ireland and across North America in major exhibitions such as Uchronia / What if?, HyperPavilion, at the 57th Venice Biennale in 2017; Now? Now! at the Biennale of the Americas in 2015, and Looking Forward (L’Avenir) at the Montréal Biennale in 2014.
She is co-director, with Jason E. Lewis, of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research network of artists, academics and technologists investigating, creating and critiquing Indigenous virtual environments. She also co-directs the Skins workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling and Digital Media. In 2015, AbTeC launched IIF, the Initiative for Indigenous Futures; Skawennati is its partnership coordinator. Skawennati is represented by ELLEPHANT and her award-winning work is included in both public and private collections. [Source: VOX, 2023]
