Braiding A/r/tography & Métissage: Thinking together on the work of Sonny Assu réflexion concertée sur l’œuvre de Sonny Assu
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Abstract
Three art educators come together to respond to the work of Sonny Assu, Ligwilda’xw of the Kwakwaka’wakw Nations, who was invited as an artist-in-residence to a graduate seminar on Indigenous visual expression as pedagogy. Engaging with the concepts of Indigenous métissage, diffraction, and a/r/tography, we weave together our personal stories, identities, and practices. We discuss ways to engage in anti-colonial teaching practices that provide openings for students to retrace, reimagine, and reconcile their understandings of Indigenous-settler relations in Canada. Our call to action asks art educators to consider Indigenous métissage as an important diffractive research practice and pedagogical praxis.
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