LIVING DIGITAL ART GALLERY TO TAKE OVER YONGE & DUNDAS SQUARE TOMORROW DURING INDIGENOUS HISTORY MONTH CELEBRATION

INDIGENOUS HISTORY MOMENTS AND ARTWORK WILL BE DISPLAYED ON ALL SCREENS IN THE SQUARE
INCLUDING SHORT FILM MOBILIZE BY CAROLINE MONNET
AND NATIONAL BILLBOARD PROJECT RESILIENCE

Toronto, ON – June 26, 2018 – Tomorrow (Wednesday, June 27), Yonge & Dundas Square will play host to the annual one-day Indigenous History Month Celebration. The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) together with the Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT), will be bringing Indigenous visual arts to the forefront that day, as a living digital art gallery, produced by BIG Digital, takes over all of the billboard screens in the square. Indigenous history moments will be displayed on the screens, alongside captivating Indigenous artwork, including short film, Mobilize, by visual and media artist, Caroline Monnet, and the Resilience Project – a public celebration and creative act of reconciliation and commemoration of 50 contemporary artworks by First Nations, Inuit, and Métis women artists.

"It is an extremely exciting opportunity for me to work with 50 Indigenous women artists and with MAWA on Resilience, the national billboard project,” says Lee-Ann Martin, Resilience Curator. “For these artists, resilience is embodied as endurance, adaptability and sovereignty in relation to customary practices, contemporary identities, the land, and the impact of colonial practices and strategies. The large-scale billboard images exist outside of art galleries, standing alongside the country's roadways. The artists in Resilience stand as Defenders of their cultural sovereignty and Protectors of this land."

"TD is proud to collaborate with The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund to showcase the incredible work of Caroline Monnet and honour the rich history of Indigenous arts and culture," said Vanessa Runions, Associate Curator, TD Bank Group. "The immersive sensory experience at Yonge-Dundas Square has the capacity to make space for Indigenous expression at a scale that cannot be ignored, helping to connect our communities through the power of art." 

The day-long celebration will culminate with a free concert, featuring JUNO Award-winning DJ crew, A Tribe Called Red, JUNO Award-winning Electronic/Hip Hop group, Keys N Krates, and JUNO Award-nominated Electronic artist, iskwé.

Indigenous History Month (June) was first proposed in 1995 by Elijah Harper, and was officially declared in Canada in 2009. Indigenous History Month provides an opportunity to recognize not only the historic contributions of Indigenous peoples to the development of Canada, but also the strength of present-day Indigenous communities and their promise for the future. Indigenous History Month is a time to acknowledge the role Indigenous peoples played in the development of Canada, to honour Indigenous heritage and to celebrate Indigenous cultures. It is also an opportunity to reflect on the strength of present day First Nation, Métis and Inuit communities, and their hopes for the future.

The 9^th annual Indigenous History Month Celebration is made possible with the generous support of Miziwe Biik, Heritage Canada, Rogers Communications, The Native Canadian Centre of Toronto (NCCT), and the Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund, producing partners, BIG Digital; with Lead Support from TD Bank Group, and media sponsorship by BellMedia.

"Digital outdoor screens provide a natural canvas for arts and cultural programming and tomorrow, Yonge & Dundas square will be lit with Indigenous Music, Art and History like never before,” comments BIG Digital Co-Founder, Michael Girgis. “The showcase of Resilience and Caroline Monnet's film, Mobilize, are a perfect example of the marriage of arts and audience." 

About The Resilience Project
Resilience rebukes the historical erasure of Indigenous women's bodies and the exclusion of their art. Images by 50 First Nations, Inuit and Métis women artists embody the multitude of connections and contradictions that constitute contemporary Indigenous identities. In inner cities and on highways, sites from which too many women have disappeared, the presence of Indigenous women is made highly visible, individualized (beyond statistics), celebrated. This project is a physicalized reminder of buried histories and diverse contemporary perspectives.  Indigenous women artists present their ideas, their visions, themselves. www.resilienceproject.ca

About Caroline Monnet
Monnet uses visual and media arts to demonstrate a keen interest in communicating complex ideas around Indigenous identity and bicultural living through the examination of cultural histories. Her work is often minimalistic while emotionally charged and speaks to the beautifully intricate limbo of indigenous peoples today. Monnet has made a signature for working with industrial materials, combining the vocabulary of popular and traditional visual-cultures with the tropes of modernist abstraction to create unique hybrid forms. Monnet is always in the stage on experimentation and invention, both for herself and for the work. About Mobilize: Guided expertly by those who live on the land and driven by the pulse of the natural world, Mobilize takes us on an exhilarating journey from the far north to the urban south. Over every landscape, in all conditions, everyday life flows with strength, skill and extreme competence. Hands swiftly thread sinew through snowshoes. Axes expertly peel birch bark to make a canoe. A master paddler navigates icy white waters. In the city, Mohawk ironworkers stroll across steel girders, almost touching the sky, and a young woman asserts her place among the towers. The fearless polar punk rhythms of Tanya Tagaq’s Uja underscore the perpetual negotiation between the modern and traditional by a people always moving forward. Mobilize is part of Souvenir, a four-film series commissioned by the National Film Board of Canada to address Aboriginal identity and representation by reworking material in the NFB’s archives. carolinemonnet.ca

About The Native Canadian Centre
The Native Canadian Centre is a membership-based, charitable organization located in the heart of downtown Toronto in a beautifully renovated heritage building. NCCT offers a wide range of programs and services based on Native cultural traditions and teachings. All are welcome. www.ncct.on.ca @NativeCentre

About The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund
The Gord Downie & Chanie Wenjack Fund (DWF) is part of Gord Downie’s legacy and embodies his commitment, and that of both the Downie and Wenjack families, to call Canadians to learning and action in solidarity with Indigenous peoples of this land. The goal of DWF is to continue the conversation that began with Chanie Wenjack’s residential school story, and to support the reconciliation process through awareness, education, and action. www.downiewenjack.ca @downiewenjack

#DoSomething #ReconciliACTION #IndigenousHistoryMonth