The new Aabijijiwan Media Lab is the first of its kind in Canada. Part of Winnipeg University, this space is a hub for new and established artists, housing four specialized labs as well as a collaborative studio space. These labs support community members through a range of digital maker equipment, from 3D printers and laser cutters to audio recording equipment and VR programming. The collaborative studio also serves as a space for intergenerational gatherings and working with physical-plane artforms, such as sewing, caribou hide tufting, and beading. They also run many online workshops, such as the one shown below, in both digital and traditional artforms. While these workshops are recorded, at the time of this post they do not appear to be accessible after the event has ended.
From CBC Indigenous:
Aabijijiwan’s first artist in residence is Scott Benesiinaabandan from Lac Seul First Nation in northern Ontario, who specializes in photography and is now focusing on augmented reality and virtual reality work.
“There’s going to be a lot of young artists with their first introduction to these sort of advanced technologies… It gives you that access, portability to technologies that we wouldn’t have otherwise and I think it’s going to be a very generative and fertile sort of place to burst new artists and new artistic ideas,” said Benesiinaabandan.
References:
Monkman, L. (2021, March 28). New Indigenous media lab at University of Winnipeg to help creators combine art and technology. CBC Indigenous. https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/aabijijiwan-media-lab-winnipeg-1.5966433