Tsu Héidei Shugaxtutaan (We Will Again Open This Container of Wisdom That Has Been Left in Our Care), Part II

"Culture is rooted in connection to land; like land, culture cannot be contained. I am inspired by generations of Tlingit and Unangax̂ creative production and knowledge connected to the land I belong to.

From this perspective, I engage across cultures with contemporary conditions. My process of creation is a constant pursuit of freedom and vision for the present and future. Using Indigenous and non-Indigenous technologies and materials I resist romanticisation, categorisation and limitation.”

The performative visual languages of Ts u Héidei Shugaxtutaan Part I and Part II call out to one another, together challenging reductive perceptions of Indigeneity and what is contemporary. In Part I, hip-hop dancer David Elsewhere’s movements emanate impressions of timelessness against traditional Tlingit song, while inPart II, two dynamic forces meet, with the steps of traditional dance set to a pulsating electro-dub soundscape. Occupying their own plane within the Grand Courts, the works introduce sound, movement, and dance into the relative stillness.