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Jackson Leween Two Bears

 

Jackson Leween, Two Bears, Ph.D. (Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri)
he/him they/them
Associate Professor, Visual Arts and Indigenous Studies
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Indigenous Arts Research & Technology
Director of the Onkwehonwe Research Environment (ORE)

2012:   Ph.D., Interdisciplinary Studies, University of Victoria; Victoria BC. Canada. Dissertation: Mythologies of an [Un]dead Indian 

2003:   M.F.A., Digital Media; Department of Visual Art, University of Victoria; Victoria BC. Canada.

1999:   B.A. & Diploma in Fine Arts: Art and Art History Program, a collaborative academic program between the University of Toronto at Mississauga and Sheridan College Oakville ON. Canada.  

Research

Interests

The Haudenosaunee worldview maintains that history and cultural memory/knowledge is something written on the land–that the landscape is an animate, living, and embodied archive with which we are interconnected. As Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts Research and Technology, Dr. Two Bears’ (Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri) research explores the ways Haudenosaunee conceptualize and embody an interrelationship with a universe that is ‘alive and filled with spirit’, understanding that today we live in a world increasingly saturated, mediated, and animated by technicity. His research and creative program engages with the ways Haudenosaunee cosmologies–which are inherently land-based, hybrid, and embodied forms of knowledge that contain robust conceptual frameworks for understanding technological innovation as embedded in cultural practices–can provide a unique perspective on how to navigate the technological landscape, and better integrate new technologies into existing lifeways. Their work focuses on Haudenosaunee land-based histories and embodied cultural knowledge within the context of our current digital epoch, and from a broader perspective asks this crucial question: what does reconciliation and decolonization look like in the digital age? Their CRC program is situated at the intersection of theory and artistic practice, and consists of research-creation activities that are modeled on Haudenosaunee methodologies, in which knowledge is generated by, transferred, and maintained through oral traditions (storytelling) and other creative cultural practices. Dr. Two Bears’ work is unique in its exploration of the creative use of digital technologies to support the innovation, transmission, expression, and transformation of Onkwehonwea (Indigenous creative and cultural practices), and their current research involves working in-community to create multimedia art installations, Virtual Reality Environment’s (VRE) for language revitalization, and conceptualizing new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools based on Indigenous knowledge systems

 

Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri (Jackson 2bears) is a Kanien’kehaka (Mohawk) multimedia installation/ performance artist and cultural theorist from Six Nations and Tyendinaga.

Selected Publications

Evanescing this Harrowed Strata. Published in “Sometimes Hard, Usually Soft. The Future of Knowledge Systems”, Johnny Golding, Martin Reinhart and Mattia Paganelli eds. ISBN: 9783110680072(De Gruyter Publishers, Berlin) [book contributions]

For this Land: Inside Elemental. Published in “Canadian Theatre Review”, Natalie Alverez ed.  (University of Toronto Press) [book chapter]

For this Land: Chiefswood. Published in “Public54: Indigenous Art, New Media and the Digital”, 
Carla Taunton, Julie Nagam and Heather Igloliotere eds. ISSN: 0845-4450. [book chapter]

Live Audio-Visual Art + First Nations Culture. Published in “Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA)” 
Lanfranco Aceti; Steve Gibson and Stefan Muller Arisona vol eds. Ozden Sahin ed. (LEA, Vol 19:3, ISBN: 978-1-906897-22-2) [book chapter]

My Post-Indian Technological Autobiography. Published in “Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art”; Steve Loft and Kerry Swanson eds. (University of Calgary Press) [book chapter].

A Conversation with Spirits Inside the Simulation of a Coast Salish Longhouse. Published in “Critical Digital Studies: A Reader” (First and revised Second Edition); Arthur and Marilouise Kroker eds. (University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division) [book chapter]

Upcoming Exhibitions

2023:   “Ne:Kahwistará:ken Kanónhsa’kówa í:se Onkwehonwe”. Multimedia Installation [developed in/with Six Nations community]. 2RO MEDIA Arts Festival; Ohsweken Six Nations Territory, ON.  

Recent Exhibitions

2022:   “Medicine Shadows”. Multimedia Performance. 7a11d* International Performance Art Festival; Toronto, ON. [with 2RO MEDIA and Janet Rogers]

2022:   “Spirit Shadows”. Multimedia Performance. Daphne Artist-Run Centre; Montreal, QC. [with Janet Rogers]

2021:   “Spirit of Rage”. Multimedia Installation/ Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by Sákéwéwak Artist Collective Inc. (Regina SK.) and 2RoMedia (Six Nations). With 2RO MEDIA, Janet Rogers and Wes Day. [screenings at Skoden Indigenous Film Festival; Simon Frasier University, School for the Contemporary Arts, BC.]

2019:   Ne:Kahwistará:ken Excerpt/Series #8. Multimedia Performance. Crawford Lake; Kanata Village; Joseph Brant Memorial Statue; Lawson Heritage Site; Tree of Peace Memorial;  presented in-part by the Canada Council for the Arts; Six Nations Territory, ON. [developed in/with Six Nations community]

2021:   “{digital} Dream Societies of the Haudenosaunee: Dream Guessing Games”. Presentation and participation in ‘Entanglement: Just Dreaming (the Worlds)’, presented by SoAH Research and the Royal College of Art, London, UK. [multimedia performance].

2021:   “For this Land: Chiefswood”.  Multimedia Installation [with Janet Rogers]. Curated by MassiveArt; San Austin, Oaxaca; Mexico. 

2021:   “NDN’s on the Airwaves”. Multimedia Installation/ Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by 2RO MEDIA, with Janet Rogers. Part of Helloland! Art, War, and the Wireless Imagination exhibition; The Rooms, N.L.

2020:   “Spirit of Rage”. Multimedia Installation/ Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by Sákéwéwak Artist Collective Inc. (Regina SK.) and 2Ro Media (Six Nations). With Janet Rogers and Wes Day. [screening, Photophobia Festival; Hamilton ON.]

2020:   “Spirit of Rage”. Multimedia Installation/ Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by Sákéwéwak Artist Collective Inc. (Regina SK.) and 2RoMedia (Six Nations). With Janet Rogers and Wes Day. [screening, ImageinNative Film & Video Festival; Toronto, ON.]

2020:   “For this Land: Inside Elemental”. Multimedia Installation [on-line solo exhibition, with 2RO MEDIA and Janet Rogers]. Durham Art Gallery; Durham, ON. 

2019:   “Moving Voice.” Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by Telus Storyhive, 2Ro Media, and Janet Rogers. Directed by Jackson 2bears. [screening, Indigenous Film and Video Festival; Edmonton, AB.]

2019:   “Iron Tomahawks”. Multimedia Installation, in “Processor: Digital and Analogue Retranslations”; Art Gallery of Alberta [group/ collaborative exhibition].

2019:   “Moving Voice.” Experimental Documentary Film. Produced by Telus Storyhive, and 2RO MEDIA, with Janet Rogers. Directed by Jackson 2bears. Streaming on APTN in 2020-present.

2019:   “LandMarks 2019.” Large-Scale Multimedia Installation. Fort Whoop-Up, Indian Battle Park, Lethbridge, AB. [Group exhibition, developed in/with Blackfoot community and elders]

2019:   “Planting Flags for Future Mohawks”. On-going, Site-Specific Installations. Supported by Canada Council for the Arts Media Arts Grant; London, UK.