Dancing on the Water: Aboriginal Longshoring in BC

Tania Willard

A Space Windows

April 28 – June 3, 2006

Copresented by: Mayworks Festival of Working People in the Arts, Native Women in the Arts / Catalyst Café

Artist Talk April 28th 7PM

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Dancing on Water: Aboriginal Longshoring in BC looks at the history and the current Aboriginal workforce in Longshoring. This exhibition illustrates stories, histories and experiences of Aboriginal people on the waterfront, examining traditional relationships and the impact of colonial industries. Artist Tania Willard draws from her passions in Aboriginal rights, working class histories and brings together a picture of an unspoken history of Aboriginal working people in Canada.

Biographies

Tania Willard has exhibited her work in community art venues, professional commercial gallery spaces and artist run centres locally and internationally. Her work, incorporating activism, media and messaging helped to shape the artistic direction of Redwire Native Youth Media Society. An Aboriginal alumni member of the University of Victoria, Willard received her Bachelors degree with honors in 1998. Tania’s work, grounded in her experience as a Secwepemc person and as an urban Native, is about sharing.