Gas Imaginary Conversations — Rachel O'Reilly in Conversation with Tania Willard & Kanahus Manuel

Below the Radar has partnered with the Or Galley to bring you recordings of the Gas Imaginary Conversations series. This is the second of two talks from The Gas Imaginary, presented by the Or Gallery. This event was recorded virtually on Dec. 5, 2020.

In this panel, Rachel O’Reilly, Tania Willard and Kanahus Manuel—with moderation by Denise Ryner—discuss the ongoing challenges of asserting land rights and the protection of water from each of their respective contexts. The speakers address the role of artistic practices and visual culture in making such struggles resonate with communities, both at home and across distance.

Tania Willard, Secwepemc Nation, works as an artist and curator within the shifting ideas of contemporary and traditional as it relates to cultural arts and production. She often engages bodies of knowledge and skills that are conceptually linked to her interest in intersections between Aboriginal and other cultures. Her curatorial work includes Beat Nation: Art Hip Hop and Aboriginal Culture (http://www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/the_exhibitions/exhibit_beat_nation.html), a national touring exhibition first presented at Vancouver Art Gallery in 2011 as well as residencies at grunt gallery and Kamloops Art Gallery. She is currently assistant professor in Creative Studies at University of British Columbia Okanagan (Kelowna BC). She also founded and operates BUSH gallery, a conceptual space for land-based art and action led by Indigenous artists.

Kanahus Manuel belongs to the Secwepemc Nation and founded the Tiny House Warrior movement as part of her ongoing work as an Indigenous water and land defender. She is also a member of the Secwepemc Women’s Warrior Society. Her family has led the struggle for rights and sovereignty in Secwepemcul’ecw (territory of the Secwepemc people) for generations. Her late father Arthur Manuel, a former Secwepemc chief and residential school survivor, was an author and global champion for Indigenous rights and title in Canada and abroad. Her late grandfather George Manuel was the second president of the National Indian Brotherhood (now the Assembly of First Nations) and founding president of the World Council of Indigenous Peoples.

The Tiny House Warriors: Our Land Is Home Is A Part Of A Mission To Stop The Trans Mountain Pipeline From Crossing Unceded Secwepemc Territory In British Columbia. Ten Tiny Houses Will Be Built And Placed Strategically Along The 518 Km Trans Mountain Pipeline Route To Assert Secwepemc Law And Jurisdiction And Block Access To This Pipeline.
Donate to Tiny House Warriors: https://www.classy.org/give/267006/#!/donation/checkout

Seed is Australia’s first Indigenous youth climate network. The organisation is building a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice with the Australian Youth Climate Coalition. Their vision is for a just and sustainable future with strong cultures and communities, powered by renewable energy.
Donate to Seed Mob: https://www.seedmob.org.au/donate

Watch the video recording of this conversation here (CC included in video): https://thegasimaginary.orgalleryprojects.org/talks/

Listen to the Gas Imaginary Conversations No. 1: https://soundcloud.com/sfuw-community-engagement/gas-imaginary-1

About The Gas Imaginary:
A multi-disciplinary project using poetry, collaborative drawings, installation, moving images, and lectures to unpack the broader significance of ‘settler conceptualism’, the racial logic of the property form and fossil fuel-based labour politics as capital reaches the limits of land use. In ongoing dialogue with elders of Gooreng Gooreng country and settler women activists, where fracking was approved for mass installation in ‘Australia’, new elements of this work address the threatened destruction to 50% of the Northern Territory.
Read more: https://thegasimaginary.orgalleryprojects.org/

Image: Rachel O'Reilly, INFRACTIONS, 2019, acrylic paint and marker. Photo: Dennis Ha.