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TONIGHT - Meet Beau Dick: Maker of Monsters

THIS IS EVENT IS GOING AHEAD - We look forward to seeing whomsoever can make it. The Ruskin is pleased to host the UK premiere of Natalie Bol and LaTiesha Fazakas’ documentary about the First Nations artist Beau Dick - 'Meet Beau Dick: Maker of Monsters' at 6.15 on Friday 2 March at 128 Bullingdon Road.

Caption needed / Steve Calvert

The screening will take place at the Ruskin School of Art Project Space (Bullingdon Road) in Oxford between 6.15 and 8.00 pm on Friday 2 March. The screening will be followed by a Q&A between LaTiesha Fazakas and Dr John Cussans, MFA Course Director at the Ruskin.  Booking essential.

A hereditary chief of the Kwakwaka’wakw peoples of the Northwest Coast of Canada, Beau Dick was trained in traditional carving by a number of revered masters before becoming one of the greatest exponents of the art. His international recognition culminated in 2017 when he was invited to perform a world healing ceremony at the Parthenon in Athens as part of documenta 14. Beau sadly passed away just weeks before he was able to realise the project.

Beau was a vital force in the resurgence of traditional potlatch culture in British Columbia, his work profoundly tied to the Native myths, legends and ceremonial practices of his ancestors. As a high-ranking member of the Hamatsa secret society, Beau took on the responsibility for passing knowledge of traditional rituals, dances, songs and stories to a new generation of young Kwakwaka’wakw people. In 2013, inspired by his daughters’ involvement in Idle No More, Beau performed two traditional copper-breaking ceremonies at the legislative buildings in Victoria and Ottawa as a shaming protest against the Canadian government’s continued refusal to recognise Native treaty rights, and to publicise the risks posed to Native communities and local ecosystems by commercial salmon farming.

The film will be introduced by Dr John Cussans from the Ruskin School of Art who is currently working on an artistic research project called The Skullcracker Suite which investigates the interwoven processes of cultural decolonization and indigenous resurgence in British Columbia.The screening will be followed by a Q&A between John Cussans and the film’s co-director LaTiesha Fazakas.

All welcome - the event is free but booking is essential. Register here

The Ruskin's Project Space is at 128 Bullingdon Road (off the Cowley Road), OX4 1QP.

This event is presented by The Oxford Research Centre in the Humanities (TORCH), with support from the John Fell Fund