Painter, sculpture/installation and mixed media artist

Regarded as a ‘ Vanguard’ for his piece in the Vancouver Art Gallery’s exhibit, How Soon Is Now?  Sonny Assu continues to push the boundaries of contemporary art by challenging the perception of Aboriginal art.

A multi-disciplinary artist, Assu merges Northwest Coast Aboriginal iconography with the aesthetics of popular culture to challenge social and historical values that we as a society face on a daily basis. His work is an exploration of his mixed ancestry and creates a discourse on we use items of consumer and popular culture to define our personal lineage.

His current body of work examines how we use everyday consumer items and icons of pop culture to define our personal lineage, discussing the use of branding, brand loyalty and technology in conjunction to the ideals of totemic representation and helps educate people on the issues that the First People of North America face.

Sonny grew up in North Delta, a suburb of of Canada’s third largest city and many kilometres away from his ancestral home of Campbell River/ Cape Mudge. It wasn’t until he was eight years old that he discovered his mixed heritage in a rather unique way. It was during a grade three history lesson about a particular group of BC ‘Indians’, the Kwakwaka’wakw. He ran home that day to tell his mom about the lesson, about how he was drawn to the culture and the art: she simply looked at him and said “Well, that is who you are”.

Assu’s work has been featured in several group exhibits over the past years, notably How Soon is Now? at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Comic Relief at the National Gallery of Canada, Challenging Traditions: Contemporary First Nations Art of the Northwest Coast at the McMichael’s Canadian Art Collection and Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation Part 2 at the Museum of Arts and Design in New York City. Sonny’s first solo exhibit, Sonny Assu: As Defined Within the Indian Act, was held at the Belkin Satellite Gallery in Vancouver, in April 2006. It garnered him considerable attention and landed him a partnership with the Equinox Gallery in the fall of 2006.

Breakfast Series Cereal boxes, Digitally Printed 12” x 7” x 3” each 2006

Assu’s work has been accepted into the National Gallery in Ottawa (Breakfast Series and the Death Blanket), the Seattle Art Museum (Breakfast Series), the Museum of Anthropology at UBC (Coke-Salish) and in various other public and private collections across Canada and the United States.  His successful art practice has netted exposure on a variety of media platforms and has received grants from various funding bodies in Canada. In 2007, Sonny was honoured with the Emily Award, an Alumni from the Emily Carr University of Art + Design, for his devotion and success on his path as an artist.

His ideas, thoughts and processes are fluidic and ever changing. Ask Sonny what he’s working on and he may eloquently speak about his ideas or he might keep tight-lipped in hopes of creating the element of surprise. Either way, his work and personality will draw you in.  Sonny Assu is Laich-kwil-tach (Kwakwaka’wakw) of the Weka’yi  First Nation (Cape Mudge), the artist has lived in Vancouver since 1999.

CONCERNING CHANGE

Coke-Salish Duratrans and Light box 24” x 35” 2006

My current body of work examines how we use everyday consumer items and icons of pop culture to define our personal lineage. Regardless of race or culture, we use the notion of totemic representation to establish our relation to each other. This body of work juxtaposes two polarized cultures and theorizes how branding, brand loyalty, and items from  pop/technology culture are used to relate to the ideal of totemic representation. The work combines social, economical, and environmental issues with subtle humour to speak to the notion of conformity through consumerism.

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Beckoning for Change’s interview with director Phillipe Diaz over his latest documentary project: “The End of Poverty?”

Philippe Diaz started as a director and became a producer very early on, ending up producing more than 25 feature films. Most of these films were tackling world issues or had a socio-political background. Having majored in political philosophy and philosophy of art, he believes that movies can make a difference. He has created a mini-studio based in Los Angeles: Cinema Libre Studio, which specialized in producing and distributing socio-political films.

Narrated by Martin Sheen, “The End of Poverty?” is a daring, thought-provoking and very timely documentary by award-winning filmmaker, Philippe Diaz, revealing that poverty is not an accident. It began with military conquest, slavery and colonization that resulted in forced labor and the seizure of land and minerals. Today, global poverty has reached new levels because of unfair debt, trade and tax policies — in other words, wealthy countries exploiting the weaknesses of poor, developing countries.

The End of Poverty? asks why today 20% of the planet’s population uses 80% of its resources and consumes 30% more than the planet can regenerate? Can we really end poverty within our current economic system? Think again.

For theatre locations, show times and more information visit  http://www.theendofpoverty.com

Roya Movafegh is a multi-media artist. Her work explores the dynamics of assimilation as well as the multiple facets of cultural identity. From an early age, she came to know first hand what it meant to be a person on the run, a foreigner, a refugee, and an immigrant. Born in Austria to Iranian parents, she later moved to her native country only to escape it five years later due to the heavy persecutions her family faced as Baha’is.

After living in Germany, the United States, and Canada, she moved to Harlem, NY in 1998 where she founded the group The Young Harlem Photographers, a photography workshop for children and youth. Their work won them the NY Times award at the Art of Change Group Show held at the Time Square Lobby Gallery.

Her more recent photo publication is Wishes in Black and White, a book about race relations in America which was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

She has devoted much of her work to children by reintroducing the role of the arts as a tool to awaken the human spirit and as a means to raise social awareness. She is the co-founder of The Children’s Theatre Company of New York, which has been featured on Good Morning America, CNN, NY1 Parenting Report, and has performed at the United Nations’ Special Session on Children with Nelson Mandela.

Roya is the founder of Nobility Within, dedicated to endeavors that highlight the inherent nobility of us all. One of its programs, Noble-icious! is a program where children explore and polish their spiritual qualities, learn about each other, and support one another in becoming agents of change in the world they are inheriting.

Her latest project is the completion of her novel The People with No Camel, which weaves two journeys of freedom: a ten year old girl escapes Iran in 1981 and a woman’s quest to save her dying forest turns into her own spiritual journey — the search for ultimate freedom.

CONCERNING CHANGE

Art has played a powerful role in bringing about awareness, consciousness, and change. I am most intrigued by the relationship between the artist and their expression of art. At what point does change take place? Does it occur when the artist first asks their questions? Examines concepts old and new? How does one become free of one’s own judgments and limitations which can act as a barrier to exploring deeper dimensions? When I have been most impacted by a work of art is when the artist has become one with the journey of search, empty of their baggage, shown humility and trust in the process, and open to becoming a clear channel through which a higher consciousness can find expression.

Another source of inspiration for me has been to learn though collaborative work with other artists and community based organizations who work as agents of change – whose works aim to elevate the human spirit and who assist in shifting our perceptions, no matter how subtle or unnoticeable the effects might be at first.

CONTRIBUTING TO CHANGE

• Them=Us, Traveling Exhibition in Canada
• Disintegration, a photo installation
• The Orange Tree, a photo installation
• Heart of Harlem & The Young Harlem Photographers
• Wishes in Black and White
• The Children’s Theatre Company (CTC) – Art By Children For Grown Ups
• Nobility Within & Noble-iscious!

FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE ARTIST

www.royamovafegh.com