Special Presentation @Vtape
.…being with SHELLEY NIRO
A day with Shelley Niro and her video work offered some older titles and a brand new feature. Mid-day, Wanda Nanibush, Canadian and Indigenous Curator, Art Gallery of Ontario, was invited to engage Shelley in a conversation about her works, which range from documentary-style to experimental to narrative fiction. With time for viewing, reflection, discussion, lunch and a final wrap up, the day was filled with humour, emotion, and deep engagement.
Saturday, April 27, 2019 10am-5pm
10 am coffee and croissants
10:30 welcome, land acknowledgement, and a beautifully written introduction delivered by Shelley herself, situating each of her works (some not being screened today) into the continuum of her work within her community where she continues to develop complex, nuanced portraits of the Indigenous characters who appear on her screens and in her photographs.
11:00 screenings
Overweight With Crooked Teeth, 1997, 5:00
Tree, 2006, 5:00
The Shirt, 2003, 5:55
Hunger, 2008, 6:03
Sky Woman With Us, 2002, 6:09
Niagara, 2015, 5:44
rechargin’, 2007, 2:49
12:30 lunch
1:30 Shelly Niro in conversation with Wanda Nanibush (with audience q&a)
2:30 coffee and conversation
3:00 screening of The Incredible 25th Year of Mitzi Bearclaw, 2019, 72:00
4:30 Q and A
5:00 wrap up
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Shelley Niro was born in Niagara Falls, NY. Currently she lives in Brantford Ontario. Niro is a member of the Six Nations Reserve, Bay of Quinte Mohawk, Turtle Clan.
She is a multi-media artist. Her work involves photography, painting, beadwork and film. Niro is conscious the impact post-colonial mediums have had on Indigenous people. Like many artists from different Native communities, she works relentlessly presenting people in realistic and explorative portrayals. Photo series such as Mohawks In Beehives, This Land Is Mime Land and M: Stories Of Women are a few of the genre of artwork. Films include: Honey Moccasin, It Starts With A Whisper, The Shirt, Kissed By Lightning and Robert’s Paintings. Shelley graduated from the Ontario College of Art, Honours and received her Master of Fine Art from the University of Western Ontario.
Niro was the inaugural recipient of the Aboriginal Arts Award presented through the Ontario Arts Council in 2012 and the Arts and Culture Award from the Dreamcatcher Charitable Foundation. In 2017 Niro received the Governor General’s Award For Visual and Media Arts from the Canada Council, The Scotiabank Photography Award and the REVEAL Award from the Hnatyshyn Foundation.
Image: Shelley Niro @ Vtape, April 27, 2019