The intersection of art, culture and technology

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This article was published 25/10/2021 (1420 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An emerging creative hub in downtown Winnipeg is giving BIPOC artists an environment that fosters innovation and community-building.

This space lives at the Aabijijiwan New Media Lab and Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre on the third floor of the University of Winnipeg’s Richardson College for the Environment and Science Complex.

The centre’s lead researchers are Dr. Jaime Cidro and Dr. Julie Nagam.

“The project’s been a long time in the making and a lot of work and research has culminated to this point,” Nagam said.

The 4,000 square-foot Aabijijiwan New Media Lab houses three work spaces. Each room focuses on a particular technology, such as 3D printing, virtual reality and green screens, and embroidery and sewing.

Jasmin Winter, 28, is the Aabijijiwan New Media Lab’s co-ordinator.  

“Although we refer to it as the new media lab, the definition of media and technology is very open, and there is an explicit effort to break down this dichotomy around traditional technologies and new technologies, with the acknowledgement that Indigenous Peoples are the original innovators on these lands and have been using technology since time immemorial,” she said.

This, Winter explained, is the impetus for including traditional technology and artwork like beading, sewing and embroidery.

Winter earned a master’s degree in development practice at the University of Winnipeg, a program headed by Cidro that has a distinct focus on Indigenous community development, she said.

For her major research project, Winter worked with Nagam on research into emerging media and digital storytelling and how these mediums can support Indigenous language and cultural revitalization. Winters helped facilitate an Indigenous virtual reality and video game arcade at the WAG.

“That’s when I really got immersed at this intersection of art and technology and Indigenous empowerment,” Winter said.

Partway through her studies in virtual and augmented reality at the Vancouver Film School, Winter got a call from Nagam, asking her to come aboard the project.

“It was an easy answer for me. I really wanted to come back and be part of this amazing project,” she said.

The space is just as much for the university’s students as it is for the broader Winnipeg community, Winter said.

The lab has already begun hosting artists in residence. This month, multimedia artists Scott Benesiinaabandan and KC Adams are on-site.

The two branches of the centre share a collaborative meeting space, which was designed by Woven Collaborative Design Studio, a local Indigenous-led company.

The room is meant to be a warm, inviting place where folks of all ages can gather and share in knowledge. It’s equipped with two smart boards for presentations, formal and casual meeting spaces, as well as an area where caregivers can breastfeed.

Aabijijiwan New Media Lab and Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre are part of an overarching project called The Space Between Us. This international collaborative initiative received approximately $6 million in investments from over 40 research collaborators and 31 partner institutions around the world.

​”Everyone has a shared vision to work at the intersection of art and technology and transform public spaces like universities, like museums, to elevate Indigenous and BIPOC perspectives in art,” Winter said.