In her short but poignant TED talk, Kayla Briët explains how she uses music and film to explore her identity and create artifacts of her multicultural heritage.
“I never felt I was enough — never Chinese, Dutch-Indonesia, or Native enough. Because I never felt I was a part of any community, I sought to learn the stories of my heritage and connect them together to rediscover my own.” [2:00]
It all started with a question: what happens when a story is forgotten?
An important aspect of Briët’s story is Hoop Dancing. Something I find fascinating about this tradition is how far it has travelled outside of the American Southwest, reaching youth across Turtle Island. In my hometown of Williams Lake (located on Secwepemc traditional territory, and close neighbours to both the T’exelcemc First Nations and the Xat’súll First Nation), Elder Francis Johnson teaches kids, both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous, the art of making and dancing with hoops. Meanwhile, a Potawatami and Cree teen is also keeping the dance alive with colourful LED hoops.
I bring this up because it makes me wonder about cultural remixing and appropriation, especially in regards to the Arts.
Here is the documentary that Briët made, Smoke that Travels:
For more on Briët’s work, here is a link to her official portfolio.
Reference:
Briët, K. (2016, October 28). Smoke That Travels (2016) [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/jRJaCgMCohA
Briët, K. (2017, April). Why do I make art? To build time capsules for my heritage [Video]. TED. https://www.ted.com/talks/kayla_briet_why_do_i_make_art_to_build_time_capsules_for_my_heritage?utm_campaign=tedspread&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=tedcomshare.
CBC Kids News (2019, February 6). Rising Star: Hoop dancer glows in the dark I CBC Kids News [Video]. YouTube. https://youtu.be/mA5CPjOOqFo
CBC Kids News (2019, February 6). Rising Star: Hoop dancer glows in the dark I CBC Kids News [Video]. YouTube.
Williams Lake First Nations Hoop Dancer. (2016). YouTube. https://youtu.be/0wbRojVXF6Y.