Forum expanded Talk and Show
Episode 4: Culture Shock
10.02. 09:45 Arsenal 1 (admission free)
Four First Nations artists were invited to respond to two films – one Karl May inspired film (from the former West Germany) and one East German “Red western” produced by the DEFA – by creating new short works based on them. They are acutely aware of the history and enduring power of the stereotypes they portray, and they are forging clear lines of demarcation between those works and contemporary Aboriginal society. The humour in the works is wickedly funny and unrepentant.
Curated by Steven Loft / In collaboration with the Embassy of Canada, Berlin
Bear Witness
The Story of Apanatschi and Her Redheaded Wrestler
In videogames the characters’ fighting styles are generally determined by their race. This re-visioning of the 1992 arcade game Virtual Fighter 5 follows the howling loin-cloth-clad, red-haired Indian wrestler Wolf Hatfield.
Canada 2008, Beta SP, 5 minutes
Bear Witness lives and works in Ottawa, Canada.
Keesic Douglas
War Pony
What does it mean to be in two worlds? And where do our understandings of “others” come from?
Canada 2008, Beta SP, 10 minutes
Keesic Douglas is an Ojibway artist from the Mnjikaning First Nation in central Ontario, Canada. He lives and works in Vancouver.
Bonnie Devine
A Grim Fairy Tale
Devine’s video opens with the discovery of an old wooden chest, and weaves together the objects it contains to tell the story of the battle for the Black Hills.
Canada 2008, Beta SP, 6 minutes
Bonnie Devine (Ojibway) is a member of the Serpent River First Nation in Northern Ontario. She lives and works in Toronto, Canada.
Darryl Nepinak
Zwei Indianer Aus Winnipeg
Two ersatz “Indian warriors” chase a beautiful Indian maiden through the streets of Winnipeg. Based on the 1964 German song, Zwei Indianer aus Winnipeg.
Canada 2008, Beta SP, 2 minutes
Darryl Nepinak (Ojibway) lives and works in Winnipeg, Canada.
