An evening with Sḵwx̱wú7mesh storyteller Salia Joseph and Cree-Metis poet Samantha Nock, who will honour, contextualize and expand on Cree/Saulteaux/Métis artist Lori Blondeau’s COSMOSQUAW (1998). Blondeau’s work offers a critical exploration of Indigenous women and beauty. Twenty years later, Salia and Samantha explore the same theme, what has changed, and what has stayed the same. The pair will offer a reply to the performance that involves a live reading, music, and a screening of the piece itself.

Presenter Biographies

Salia Joseph is from the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh and Snuneymuxw First Nations on her father’s side and British and Jewish on her mothers. In 2016 she graduated with a bachelor of arts degree in First Nations and Indigenous studies from the University of British Columbia. She recently graduated from a yearlong full time immersion program in her language, Sḵwx̱wú7mesh Sníchim at Simon Fraser University. Salia sings in a band called An̓usáyum̓ (Two Berries) as well as a traditional Sḵwx̱wú7mesh dance/singing group called Ta Na Wa Káwstem. Salia works for Kwi Awt Stelmexw, a Sḵwx̱wú7mes language and culture non-profit. In addition to this she has recently completed a curatorial internship at the Bill Reid Art Gallery. Salia is also committed to her continued learning journey of Salish wool weaving.

Samantha Nock is a Cree-Métis writer and poet from Treaty 8 territory in Northeast BC. Her family originally comes from Ile-a-la-Crosse (Sakitawak), Saskatchewan. She has been published in GUTS Magazine , Shameless Magazine, SAD Mag, Canadian Art, and others. Samantha co-organizes a bi-monthly community readings series called Poetry is Bad For You, and hosts Heavy Content, a podcast exploring representations of fat people in the media. She cares about radical decolonial love, coffee, corgis, and her two cats, Betty and Jughead.

Artist Biography

Lori Blondeau is an interdisciplinary artist working primarily in performance/photography and has taught at the University of Saskatchewan and The Centre for Indigenous Theatre. Blondeau holds an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan, winning the Humanities & Fine Arts Thesis Award. She apprenticed with James Luna from 1998-2001. In addition to her extensive exhibition history, Blondeau is co-founder of the Indigenous artist collective, TRIBE, and has sat on the Advisory Panel for Visual Arts for the Canada Council for the Arts.   Blondeau has exhibited and performed nationally and internationally including the Banff Centre; Mendel Art Gallery, Saskatoon; OpenSpace, Victoria; FOFA, Montreal. In 2007, Blondeau was part of the Requickening project with artist Shelly Niro at the Venice Biennale, recently had a solo exhibition at Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art Gallery, Winnipeg, and was part of the Scotia Bank Contact Festival in Toronto. Her art is held in both public gallery and private collections.