Why the Caged Bird Sings: Immersive Engagements

Additional Information

Curated by Judy McNaughton and Tomas Jonsson.

Co-presented with Common Weal Community Arts.

This exhibition includes immersive, interactive new work by Indigenous interdisciplinary artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle created as elaborations on the songs she wrote in collaboration with incarcerated and detained populations in Saskatchewan’s correctional facilities.

Cheryl L’Hirondelle (Cree/Halfbreed; German/Polish) is a community engaged interdisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter with family ties to amiskwāciy-wāskahikan (Edmonton), Papaschase First Nation and Kikino Metis Settlement, AB. Her work investigates and articulates the dynamism of nēhiyawin (Cree worldview) in contemporary time-place incorporating audio, video, VR, olfactory, music and audience/user participation to create immersive environments towards ‘radical inclusion’. As a songwriter, L’Hirondelle’s focus is on sharing nēhiyawēwin (Cree language), Indigenous song-forms and personal narrative songwriting as methodologies toward survivance. Cheryl is a recipient of the 2021 of the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Art and is currently completing an interdisciplinary practice-based PhD with SMARTlab/UCD, in Ireland.