Artist, seth cardinal dodginghorse, and curator, 馬鳳齡 Fung Ling Feimo, have been working together on a utility box project that acknowledges the proximity between the early Chinese settlements and Tssu’tunia encampments along the bow river. The work ask what it means to be treaty people from two different perspectives. In this workshop, seth shares the stories behind Treaty 7 that have helped shaped his artistic practice, and Fung Ling discuses the value of centring non-white voices through the use of art in Chinatown. This is a recording of the workshop and our conversation that occurred on June 6th, 2021.
Session:
Treaty 7 and Missing Histories
馬鳳齡 Fung Ling Feimo is an arts enthusiast; she is passionate about arts and culture. Her work in not-for-profits as well as arts administration has taken her many places, supporting artists and engaging communities. During the Cultural Capital, Fung Ling and the Calgary 2012 team championed community support for arts and culture, and funded hundreds of arts organisations and many more artists. “Heritage Buildings could Talk” is the name of a Chinatown Heritage Project that she completed in 2019, which includes the Chinatown Context Paper that will inform the Cultural Plan. In addition to projects within the Chinese-Canadian community, Fung Ling has also been involved with Indigenous projects that include the launching of Making Treaty 7, in 2012. She now draws on her rich experience to contribute to Tomorrow’s Chinatown Advisory Group.
Though a long-time Calgarian, she will always call Montréal her hometown (and still gets asked “Where are you really from?”).
seth cardinal dodginghorse is a multidisciplinary artist, experimental musician, and recent graduate of the Alberta University of the Arts. He grew up eating dirt and exploring the forest on his family’s ancestral land on the Tsuu’tina nation. In 2014 he and his family were forcibly removed from their homes and land for the construction of the South West Calgary Ring Road. His work explores his own experiences of displacement and family history.