Event #3

COLLOQUIUM: Through an Indigenous Lens

I attended this panel for my Art History class. The panel took place in the Robins School of Business, Ukrop Auditorium. The panel was made up of three filmmakers- Sky Hopinka, Adam Khalil and Zack Khalil and was moderated by to UR members. Going into this talk I did not know what to expect; growing up in the northeast with an uncle who has committed his life to working with Native American communities in the United States and Canada I am very aware of not only their hardships of the past but the lasting and further forced struggles and mistreatment these communities face today. 

I am very interested in film and see it as a tool for change but I am aware of the negative, misinformed ripples it can cause. The three Contemporary Indigenous filmmakers and curators explained the harm and misconceptions media and photos have brought to their communities. This was very interesting and something I was very unaware of. They shared their own works and explained that while the widespread media about indigenous people puts them in a box, limited their people to solely who they were in the past. However, unlike the US Government’s beloved untouchable Constitution, the indigenous people’s practice and social practices are always evolving. This is not what it publicized or taught in schools- limiting the general public to the past practices of the indigenous people is very harmful to their image and carries a large misconception about who they are in present-day which leads these communities to be further oppressed and neglected. This panel was eye-opening.