Towards the Wood's Edge (2021)
Within the Hodinöhsö:ni' tradition the "wood's edge" is a place of transition. It is a point where the world of your making is met with the uncertainty of the realms beyond. It is also where travellers are met and defined. A place where strangers are made into family. This "edge" will bring you into my small world - a place where the world of one Indigenous family will open up for you to share.
Produced / Directed : Alex Jacobs-Blum
Camera/ Score: Bawaadan Collective
Excerpt from Civil, Religious and Mourning Councils and Ceremonies of Adoption of the New York Indians by William M Beauchamp, 1906. New York State Museum Bulletin 113
As Above, So Below (2021)
Long-time collaborators and best friends, Kiera Boult and Alex Jacobs-Blum (Lower Cayuga Nation, Six Nations of the Grand River/ German) investigate the impacts of colonization on Black, Indigenous and racialized bodies and how they navigate urban spaces. Having both grown up in the suburbs of Hamilton, ON, Boult and Jacobs-Blum explore the intersection of their identities, which led to past collaborations on Black and Indigenous solidarity.
As Above, So Below, satirically looks at the gentrification and urban sprawl in Hamilton to Caledonia (bordering Six Nations of the Grand River Territory). Using found footage to parody economic and urban development videos such as: 2006 Douglas Creek Estates attempted survey, Pier 8 development proposal and Hamilton’s 1946 Chamber of Commerce promotional movie. Audio of Beverly Jacobs anchors the found footage to the Land Back movement. In this piece, Hamilton is shot as a post-apocalyptic landscape capturing a dystopian view on industrialization. Boult and Jacobs-Blum assert themselves through performance within these environments as a commentary on the colonial mindset of ownership.
White Fragility (2020)
A postminimalist piece employing virtual processes and conceptions over finished objects. In this case, a white vase on a white background, the pages of Robin Di'angelos “White Fragility”, and a synthetic score from Emilio Portal
Produced / Directed : Alex Jacobs-Blum and Bawaadan Collective
Score: Emilio Portal
Onákdo:t (2019)
Travelling from Six Nations to the Cayuga Nation that is situated near Ithaca, NY I trace the cross-border Cayuga Nation paths. Documenting the spiritual journey of my ancestors along their traditional homelands.
Onak:dot explores themes of history, building futurities, resiliency and reclamation. I challenge the intergenerational impact of displacement rendered through a personal visual narrative. Onak:dot reflects my artistic practice as a process of claiming self-identity and healing. The performative act of travelling home to Cayuga Lake is both a personal and political journey in reclaiming Indigeneity.
The effects of the residential school system impacted generations of Indigenous peoples. In honour of my ancestors and as a way to bridge this gap, I spend time on Cayuga territory to regain traditional knowledge.