Kiyokewin: Kinship Conversations Under the Kitchen Table

Join us under the “kitchen table”, in an intimate lodge built from draped tablecloths, lined with cushions, where borders are dimmed and just enough light guides you inside. In this liminal space, personal and collective memory and imagination awaken in everyday conversations that connect us to one another, to family, and to place.

Drawing from the teachings of Métis knowledge keeper, artist and teacher, Maria Campbell, this interactive exchange invites participants to join in kiyokêwin. kiyokêwin is a Cree/Métis concept that connects us to one another through visiting among relatives, often around the kitchen table, to make and maintain kinship ties. Métis artist Moe Clark guides the exchange, in collaboration with her wahkotowin, kinship beyond immediate family. Knowledge keepers and artists, aunty Cheryl L'Hirondelle and uncle Joseph Naytowhow will share their stories via projection, as activators to the dialogue. They model how, in contemporary times, kiyokêwin and wahkotowin are often maintained through digital mediums. These relationships help us towards miskâsowin, to find our place of belonging, to find one's self. 

As part of ORIGINS Festival of First Nations Arts, celebrating the world Indigenous artists and activist between 11 - 23 June 2019 across some of London's most significant cultural institutions. 

www.originsfestival.com