Aux confluents de l’Akiawenhrahk
Several key principles of relationality and Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ sovereignties
Discussion with Léuli Eshrāghi and arkadi lavoie-lachapelle, guided by Myriam Le Lan
At La Charpente des fauves, Onyionhwentsïo
May 7, 2024
Through actively working for the alliance, reflecting, questioning ourselves, and organizing activities throughout the year, a need arose: to better understand how to build and, above all, maintain a space where all members of the Alliance would feel comfortable expressing themselves. A safe space. With this idea in mind, we invited artists and curators Léuli Eshrāghi and arkadi lavoie-lachapelle to this third discussion, which was moderated by Myriam Le Lan. They quickly made us realize that it was probably utopian to hope for such a space. After several exchanges—and we certainly exchanged a lot! - we arrived, largely thanks to the work of Léuli and arkadi, at a discussion on several key principles of relationality and Indigenous and 2SLGBTQIA+ sovereignties.
This discussion focused on artistic, curatorial, managerial, and educational practices rooted in both living together and embracing otherness, with a view to providing a tangible framework for ongoing reflections on the alliance between the Ahkwayaonhkeh and VU artist-run centers. All of this was inspired by the contributions of arkadi and Léuli to issue 3: Souverainetés of the 2022 magazine Cigale.
In this image, we see arkadi inviting those present to join them in an exercise, standing in a circle: each person took turns making a gesture representing their current emotion. The idea was for everyone to reproduce this gesture together, and to continue in turn until we had gone around the circle. It's hard to describe, but that moment connected us. Perhaps we could say that it brought us together?
Then, arkadi and Léuli presented their projects and experiences. arkadi spoke in particular about their projects Le travail que l'on rêve gratuit (2022) and Juste pour fuir (2020-2022), around postmortem care and the industrialization of death. Léuli, for their part, spoke about their work as an artist with afiafi and their curatorial projects D’horizons et d’estuaires: entre mémoires et créations autochtones (2020) and So Fuckin Native (2011).
These presentations provided rich insights into the ways in which relational approaches are woven into different communities. Among other things, we learned the importance of maintaining relationships and revisiting people, as Léuli says. It is also about accepting that we will make mistakes in these relationships and thinking of these moments as opportunities for transformation, which are part of a process. And finally, that this network of relationships is not centered solely on humans, but is part of an even larger network, connected to other living beings, to the nature that surrounds us, passes through us, and animates us.
When we considered the public discussions organized as part of our alliance project, our goal was to share our thoughts and questions and to help other organizations and members of the arts community in their reflections on these issues. That is also why we recorded each of the discussions to turn them into podcasts.
Guests
Léuli Eshrāghi, born in 1986 in Yuwi country, belongs to the Seumanutafa and Tautua clans of the Sāmoan archipelago. Their artistic and curatorial practice focuses on international Indigenous, Asian, and Black visuality, sensual and spoken languages, and ceremonial-political practices. They are the curator of Indigenous arts at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, a mentor with the Pilimmaksarniq / Pijariuqsarniq Project: Inuit Futures in Cultural Leadership, and a member of the Indigenous Arts and Visual Arts committees of the Montreal Arts Council.
arkadi lavoie-lachapelle is an action artist, poet, and educator who grew up in the countryside in a middle-class French-speaking family. They has been practicing their art in Quebec City for over ten years. A graduate in visual and media arts from UQAM (2013), they has presented their work in several exhibitions and festivals in Canada and Europe (notably Spain and Germany). Involved with their community, they is an artist member of the Gham et Dafe studio and was a director for the VIVA! Art Action festival. A finalist for the Pierre-Ayot Award (AGAC, 2020) and the Sobey Award (2023), Lavoie Lachapelle is supported by their peers as the recipient of several grants from the CAC and CALQ.
Facilitator
Myriam Le Lan strives to focus on listening, presence, and compassion for oneself and others in her daily practice of speech. They are the programming coordinator at Folie/Culture, a discussion facilitator, a living model, and a lover of all forms of life.
Merci à nos partenaires la Charpentes des fauves.