ᐸᐊᐧᑲᐣ | pawākan | dream spirit

Date: Saturday, September 30, 8 pm
Price: FREE

The Aga Khan Museum marks National Day for Truth and Reconciliation by holding an inclusive and safe space for all.  We value knowing our diverse histories and experiences through intercultural dialogue around the arts, which we see as the most powerful way to understand and tell truths. 

As a global cultural institution located in Takaronto, the mandate of the Aga Khan Museum is championing the power of the arts in facilitating cross-cultural understanding and dialogue through the practice of cultural pluralism. We are proud to present this prominent contemporary artist, who stands as one of the foremost truth-tellers of our time, as new generations of Indigenous artists across Turtle Island are re-claiming, re-making, and re-presenting their cultures and identities.   

For more information on National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, click here.

About pawākan:

An intimate journey across multiple dimensions and into beyond-human kinships. pawākan | dream spirit, is an animate messenger who guides us through known and unknown territories, summoning future visions, awakening sacred gifts and honouring relationships. 

In an eternal unfolding of sākihitowin (love) and wāhkōhtowin (sacred kinship), pawākan is a song, a prayer, an embodiment of spirit in a resurgent celebration of nêhiyawêwin (plains cree language) and resonant voice. Esteemed musicians and artists from Turtle Island and abroad gather to feast and honour cultural and creative lineages.

Musicians:
Ahau Marino | Guitar, Vocals and Co-arrangements
Eveline Grégoire-Rousseau | Harp and Vocals
Briga Dajczer | Violin and Vocals
Summer Kodama |  Upright Bass
Marton Maderspach | Drums and Vocals

With Special Guest:
Saeed Kamjoo | Kamancheh
Brian Solomon | Dance 

Visual Projections By:
Niap

Photo Credits:
Cory Hunlin

About Moe Clark

âpihtawikosisâniskwêw (Métis / Norwegian / French / British) multidisciplinary artist Moe Clark is a 2Spirit singing thunderbird. She works across diverse disciplines of vocal improvisation, spoken word poetry, sound design, and performance creation to create meaning rooted in personal legacy, ancestral memory, and embodied knowledge. Originally from the prairies in Treaty 7, Clark resides in Tio'tiá:ke/ Mooniyang/ Montréal, on the unceded territory of the Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk people).

Her last solo album, “Within,” toured across North America, and her collaborative video poem “nitahkôtân” won best Indigenous language music video at the ImagiNative film festival. In 2013, she directed the 10th Annual Canadian Festival of Spoken Word, highlighting Indigenous Languages, and she was named Poet of Honour at the same festival in 2014. “Fire & Sage/ Du sauge et du feu,” her bilingual book of poetry, was released through Maelström Editions in Belgium and has been showcased at international literature festivals. Moe has seven albums of music, both solo and collaborative and multiple performance videos. Co-founder of Weather Beings with Māori Takatāpui dancer/choreographer Victoria Hunt, their collaboration examines intersections of Métis & Māori cosmology and Indigenous futurism through performance experimentation.

Apart from performance, Clark's work as a creative facilitator aims to remember and reconnect personal and collective belonging to territories of land, body and voice. Through creative continuums of Indigenous language immersion, song creation and ceremonial practice, her work in the community reinforces the roles of 2S people and intergenerational transmission. Moe’s work has appeared the world over, including at the Lincoln Centre (US), UBUD Writers & Readers Festival (ID) and Origins Festival in London (UK).

Follow Moe Clark on Instagram
Listen to Moe Clark on Bandcamp
Learn more about Moe Clark

About Saeed Kamjoo

Saeed Kamjoo is a Kamanche player with a background in Classical Persian music. A Tehran University graduate, Kamjoo's style of playing the Kamanche is characterized by his creative and authentic approach while incorporating innovative elements. He has performed all over Europe, North and Central America, Eastern Asia, Palestine, and Mawlana — Rumi's tomb in Konya.

The Museum’s Performing Arts programming is generously supported by the Nanji Family Foundation.