The Arrivals Project
A Personal Legacy Exchange
July 2009
May 2010
Whispers From Our Ancestors - The Arrivals Project Lands in Whitehorse
Gwaandak Theatre hosted urban ink Artistic Director Diane Roberts, Aboriginal Community Director Rose Georgeson and co-facilitator Danielle Smith for a five day introduction to the Arrivals Project in July 2009. Seven Yukon artists participated in the workshop at Hellaby Hall, including playwrights, dancers, choreographers and visual artists.
Each participant chose a personal ancestor to research and discover more about. For example, Gwaandak Co-Artistic Director Leonard Linklater chose his grandfather Archibald Linklater, who came from Manitoba to the north Yukon with the Hudson’s Bay Company, while Patti Flather’s focus was her great grandfather Jimmy Cunningham, master stonemason on Vancouver’s famous Stanley Park Seawall. Participants made intense discoveries about their own ancestry, and helped to witness and record the discoveries of others in the workshop. This event ended with a feast.
The Co(Lab): An Indigenous Crossroads Laboratory
Gwaandak Theatre supported the participation of four Yukon artists in The Co(Lab) in Vancouver from November 15th-22nd, 2009. urban ink productions spearheaded this ambitious gathering of almost 20 Aboriginal and diverse artists from across Canada. During the intensive week, participants planted the seeds for an exciting new cross-disciplinary performance work. They held a public showcase on Nov. 22 at the W2 Building in the city’s downtown core.
We are grateful to urban ink productions and the Canada Council Aboriginal People’s Collaborative Exchange for making this possible.
Gwaandak Theatre presents urban ink productions’ The Arrivals Project: A Personal Legacy Workshop - May 27th-31st - The Old Fire Hall, Whitehorse
urban ink Artistic Director Diane Roberts, with Aboriginal Community Director Rose Georgeson and Yukon assistants, guided artists in an embodied exploration of their own histories of (dis)place(ment). Participants discovered & worked with a ‘Personal Legacy Voice’ of an ancestor at least three generations removed. In-studio work involved ensemble and individual physical & vocal exercises designed to awaken ancestral histories stored in our blood and bones. Our methodology was a combination of 'Afrisporic' influenced performance traditions that open gateways for the emergence of historic truths from critically anchored personal places. This workshop was made possible by the Canada Council for the Arts.
MORE ABOUT THE ARRIVALS PROJECT
The Arrivals Project is a multidisciplinary performance project exploring root cultural practices, ancestral embodiment and deeply meaningful cross-cultural exchanges. This project inspires emerging and established artists of Aboriginal and diverse cultural and artistic backgrounds to explore their connection to a personal ancestor, in relationship to their own artistic practice, as well as their own identity.
A few words from Diane Roberts on the impact of the work: “The compelling thing about the Personal Legacy work is that it doesn’t necessarily lead one to tell an ancestral story as such. By this I mean the artist may not come out of the work with the compelling desire to tell the entire life story of their great great Aunt or Uncle. The work leads the participating artist to a meeting or what I’ve been calling a `doorway’ of possibilities. It is only once the artist chooses to step through that doorway or engage fully in the ancestral meeting that possibilities manifest themselves…The impact of the work is profound and lasting. Participants have reported their encounters as turning point moments in their work and, in some cases, their life…”