WESTERN FRONT – REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games

Description:

REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games was an installation that addressed Indigenous peoples as both players and producers of videogames, and explored the potential of gameplay as a medium for storytelling and cultural teachings. For REGENERATION, an arcade made up of consoles and projections was set up in the foyer and Grand Luxe Hall. The arcade featured nine games that reflected themes of relationship building, community ties, and storytelling.

Program:

Terra Nova (2019), SlipCycle Productions

Thunderbird Strike (2017), Elizabeth LaPensée

When Rivers Were Trails (2019), Elizabeth LaPensée, Nichlas Emmons, Weshoyot Alvitre

PURITY&decay (2017), Achimostawinan Games

Tipi Kaga (2019), Carl Petersen

Hold My Hand (2019), Nathan Powless-Lynes

Kakwitene VR (2019), MoniGarr

Maoriland Adventures (2016), Johnson Witehira

Wao Kanaka (the Realm of Humans) (2018), Ka Lei Milika`a

REGENERATION also marked the public launch of Maize Longboat's videogame Terra Nova (2019), and included a public talk with Longboat and members of the independent game collective Heart Projector.

Produced in partnership with Heart Projector.

Curated by Maize Longboat.

A person with long dark hair and a black turtleneck wears a virtual reality headset with one remote in each hand. The background projects vibrant animated foliage, bright pink flowers and blueberries against a cream wall.

In the Grand Luxe Hall, a video game is projected on the wall. In the video game, a brown-coloured creature, resembling a bear, speaks to a blue whale who says, quote, you must be hungry from your journey, unquote. The background is of a beach, a sailboat left to the creature and a dark, starry sky. The shadow of a person’s head interrupts the projection on the right.

In the Grand Luxe Hall, two people lay on brown bean bags while looking upwards to a projection screen on a stand in front of them. The green and white jagged shapes on the screen reflect onto their complexions. They are dressed in a jacket and a cardigan with beanies on.

A person with long dark hair and glasses plays a video game on a desktop computer, their right hand is on the mouse. Another person with glasses watches the screen, standing behind them. The computer shows two animated fish swimming towards the right.

A person with long dark hair sits in front of a desktop computer, looking at a newspaper article on the screen. The Hawaiian newspaper article is titled, quote, Wa Maloo ma Hawaii Nei, unquote, and below is a black-and-white photo of three adults and one child. In the forefront of the photo, one adult and child stand with their genitalia covered by a white cloth, the two people behind them are sitting on rocks with white t shirts on.

Against a wall in the Grand Luxe Hall, two people sit at a desk next to each other, both looking at separate desktop computers. The person on the left has a dark cap and leather jacket on, and on the right, the person wears headphones, a red t shirt and has long dark hair. Each is playing a different video game on the screen.

In the Grand Luxe Hall, two people sit next to each other playing a vibrant video game on their respective desktop computers. The screen on the left shows a wooden house front porch and the right shows a tipi house in a green field. The head and shoulders of a third person can be seen on the right, who is looking at a screen.

In the Grand Luxe Hall, five people sit next to each other, each in front of a desktop computer with headphones on. A crowd of people stand behind them looking at their computers. The projection screen in the background shows vibrant green foliage with pink flowers and a bright blue sky.

A crowd of people stand in the foyer staring at a projection on the wall next to the gallery entrance. On the screen is a video game showing greenery growing between decayed urbanism. A standing desk stands between the crowd and the projection screen.

Two children lean against a bench, staring at a video game projected onto a wall. On the bench sits an open laptop, and to the right, foliage drapes down the frame. The screen shows an astronaut traversing through a destroyed building with greenery growing through the cement.

Two people stand next to each other in a medium to long shot, smiling at the camera. To the left, the person has blonde, shoulder-length hair, and wears glasses, a yellow patterned blouse and dark trousers with their hands in the pockets. To the right, a person with short dark hair wears black stud earrings, a white t shirt and dark pants with their arms at their sides.

Related People

Maize Longboat (Curator)

Related Events

2019

Talk with Heart Projector, Maize Longboat, Meagan Byrne, MoniGarr, Carl Petersen, and Nathan Powless-Lynes

Captions:

Visitor at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games, installation view, Oct 19 – 20 & 22, 2019. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Visitors at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Visitors at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Visitor at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Visitors at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Visitors at REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games, installation view, Oct 19 – 20 & 22, 2019. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games, installation view, Oct 19 – 20 & 22, 2019. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
REGENERATION: Breaking Time with Indigenous Video Games, installation view, Oct 19 – 20 & 22, 2019. Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.
Allison Collins and Maize Longboat (2019). Photo by Ash Tanasiychuk.

Western Front is a non-profit artist-run centre in Vancouver.

We acknowledge the xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations as traditional owners of the land upon which Western Front stands.