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A literary evening with Maori writer, Witi Ihimaera

(recording below)

Nov 24, 2023

We are pleased to share a recording of the literary evening featuring Witi Ihimaera in Montr茅al this past August.

The conversation is moderated by Andr茅 Dudemaine (Innu), artistic director of Terres en vues. Witi Ihimaera responds to live readings of carefully selected excerpts from his work with some other of his stories, songs, and a unique unpublished text.

 

鈥淚t was a beautiful experience to witness two great Indigenous artists elders 鈥 an Innu producer and a Maori writer 鈥 honoring each other鈥檚 work and enjoying each other presence and exchange so joyfully on stage.鈥

 ~ Gracelynn Chung Yan Lau, PhD candidate
Graduate Program in Cultural Studies
Queen鈥檚 University

 

photo of Witi Ihimaera

Held at the McCord Museum and on Zoom, the literary evening was jointly presented by the Festival international Pr茅sence autochtone, a research project led by Dr. St-Amand at Queen鈥檚 University, and the McCord Stewart Museum.

Witi Ihimaera was born in New Zealand and is recognized as one of the most important postcolonial writers. Belonging to the Te Whanau a Kai tribe, he grew up on stories of his origins and his ancestors. Working as a journalist and then as a diplomat, he began at the same time to imagine stories linked to his culture, for the stage and the screen.

His novel The Whale Rider became an internationally successful feature film. He has taught English literature in Auckland and was also awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit in Literature in 2005.

poster of first peoples' festival 2023

Rencontre-discussion cin茅ma autochtone/Indigenous Cinema Meeting

An Indigenous cinema meeting took place last August at the Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al and on Zoom, also as part of the festival. The meeting brought together local and international filmmakers and scholars to discuss current projects, ideas, and visions for the near future. The meeting was a way to develop and nourish key connections while brainstorming toward relevant questions to consider for the next international conference Regards autochtones sur les Am茅riques / Revisioning the Americas through Indigenous Cinema / Conferencia Visiones ind铆genas sobre las Am茅ricas.

Like the conference, this meeting was co-organized out of Queen鈥檚 University by PI. Dr. St-Amand in partnership with Terres en vues and collaboration with the Kanien鈥檏ehaka Onkwaw茅n:na Raotiti贸hkwa Language and Cultural Center (KOR).

The literary evening and the Indigenous-cinema meeting received the generous support of:

  • Queen鈥檚 Faculty of Arts and Science鈥檚 Office of Equity, Diversity, Indigeneity, and Inclusion (EDII)
  • The SSHRC Connection 鈥淩evisioning the Americas through Indigenous Cinema鈥 project
  • The Department of French Studies at Queen鈥檚 University
  • The Department of English Studies at Queen鈥檚 University
  • The Vulnerable Media Lab鈥檚 鈥淢inor Archives of the Americas鈥 project
  • The Groupe d鈥櫭﹖udes et de recherches ax茅es sur la communication internationale et interculturelle (GERACII) at Universit茅 du Qu茅bec 脿 Montr茅al (UQAM)

The Montr茅al First Peoples鈥 Festival

The showcases the artistry and cultural renaissance of Indigenous peoples from across the Americas and the world. The multidisciplinary event unfolds over ten days of creation, encounters, and discoveries in August. The Place des Festivals, with its giant teepee, becomes a nucleus of intense artistic activity that radiates throughout the city. The programming centers on First People鈥檚 cinema, crowd-drawing concerts, and Indigenous performing arts in a wide variety of forms and expressions.