For Immediate Release: September 3, 2015
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival
Presenting Sponsor: Bell Media
Kent Monkman Exhibition Opening
Digital Media Art+Cade, Art Crawl and The Beat
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is bursting at the seams with the best in Indigenous Art, Digital Media Works and Exhibitions, including the opening of the new installation by Kent Monkman, the inaugural Digital Media Art+Cade, and a music showcase at The Beat’s DJ POW! WOW!.
On Friday, October 16, as part of the public opening of Kent Monkman’s new installation, The Rise and Fall of Civilization, at the Gardiner Museum, imagineNATIVE will present Kent Monkman: Miss Chief in Motion, a series of Monkman’s short films featuring Miss Chief Eagle Testickle, the artist’s iconic drag queen alter ego. Kent Monkman will be in attendance for an audience discussion after the screening, followed by a tour of the exhibition guided by the artist himself. The Rise and Fall of Civilization will continue on display until January 10, 2016, and features a “buffalo jump” crowned by a sculpture of Miss Chief and two full-sized bison. Sculptures of cubist-style bison plunge headlong into the gallery, violently shattering at the base of the cliff in a pile of broken ceramics, referencing the build-up of bones often found at buffalo jumps in the 1800s, as well as the history of Indigenous ceramics found at sites across North America.
imagineNATIVE with support from the Canada Media Fund, is proud to present the first-ever Digital Media Art+Cade, a new interactive hangout showcasing Indigenous-made video games, web series, radio and audio works, digital apps and virtual reality experiences from October 15 – 18 at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. The Digital Media Art+Cade will feature retro arcade-style booths and consoles loaded with five video games created by Indigenous females aged 13 to 24; the PlayStation 4 hit Never Alone; Indigenous Virtual Reality demonstrations featuring A Tribe Called Red and Tanya Tagaq; and six Audio Works featuring storytelling, documentaries and podcasts.
imagineNATIVE’s beloved Art Crawl is back with a mixture of inspiring, insightful, and entertaining visual art exhibitions! The historic 401 Richmond Building will once again play host to the best in contemporary Indigenous media art, commissions and retrospectives on Friday, October 16, in four galleries: Vtape/VMAC Gallery, Trinity Square Video, A Space Gallery and YYZ Artists’ Outlet.
imagineNATIVE’s music showcase The Beat, presented by Slaight Music, will make its triumphant return to Revival nightclub on Saturday, October 17 with DJ POW! WOW! featuring three dynamic Indigenous DJs: DJ Akkil, fusing ‘80s synth with traditional Sámi joiks; Glitclit, pumping out a mix of heavy electronic beats with out-of-this-world chanting; and madeskimo, a.k.a. Geronimo Inutiq, remixing traditional Inuit music with modern electronic sounds.
The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world’s largest Indigenous festival showcasing innovation in film, video, audio and digital media. The Festival presents the most compelling and distinctive works from Canada and around the globe, reflecting the diversity of the world’s Indigenous nations and illustrating the vitality and excellence of Native art and culture in contemporary media.
The 16th annual imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival will be held in Toronto October 14-18, 2015.
Early Bird Ticket Packages and Delegate Passes are now on sale for a limited time For more information please call 416.585.2333 or visit www.imagineNATIVE.org facebook/imagineNATIVE / @imagineNATIVE
Media Contact: FLIP Publicity & Promotions Inc., 416.533.7710 @FLIP_Publicity
Danielle LeSage, danielle@flip-publicity.com or Damien Nelson, damien@flip-publicity.com
imagineNATIVE is proud to introduce the Support an Artist Program, which aims to bring as many Indigenous artists as possible to this year’s Festival by subsidizing travel costs. Attending imagineNATIVE can dramatically enhance the professional and artistic development of artists at all levels of their career. Donations can be made here: www.canadahelps.org/dn/8433
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival 2015 Sponsors:
List represents commitments as of August 25, 2015
Presenting Sponsor: Bell Media
Platinum Sponsor: NBC Universal
Gold Sponsors: Aboriginal Peoples Television Network
Silver Sponsors: Air Canada • Canada Media Fund • Harold Greenberg Fund • Loft404 • Slaight
Music
Bronze Sponsors: Canadian Media Production Association • Directors Guild of Canada • Indigenous Visual Culture Program OCAD University • Miziwe Biik • Nunavut Tourism • RBC Royal Bank • Super Channel • TVO
Media Partners: NOW Magazine • Muskrat Magazine • RPM.fm • POV Magazine
Public Funders: Ontario Arts Council • Canada Council for the Arts • Canadian Heritage • Miziwe Biik Aboriginal Employment and Training • Ontario Ministry of Tourism, Culture and Sport • Toronto Arts Council • Telefilm
Award Sponsors: ACTRA National • ACTRA Performers’ Rights Society • Air Canada • APTN • Bell
Media • Indigenous Media Initiatives • NBC Universal • RBC Royal Bank • Slaight Music • Vtape
Community Partners: ACTRA Toronto • Beehive Design • Charles Street Video • Gardiner Museum Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto • National Film Board of Canada • Scenic Drive • Vtape • WIFT-Toronto • William F. White
Mentorship Partners: Charles Street Video • CSIF • LIFT • New Brunswick Film Cooperative
Festival Hotel: Hilton Garden Inn
Hospitality Partners: Be More • Corned Beef House • Hush Restaurant Bar Patio • Jugo Juice •
Hyatt Regency Hotel Toronto • MAKE UP FOR EVER • Maki My Way • Museum of Inuit Art • Pita Pit • Ravi Soups • Revival • Royal Ontario Museum • Santo Pecado Catering • Second Cup • Steam
Whistle Brewing • The Strathcona Hotel • The Office Pub (TBC)
Foundations: Ontario Trillium Foundation • RBC Foundation
