Hawsan lh suu- repeat after me
I made this piece to share a little of what I’ve been learning of Xaad kil, the Aw Tlagee (Masset) dialect of the Haida language. Opening with a video of the ocean from Aw Tlagee, a robot and a self portrait have a basic conversation in the language. The characters’ faces become mirrored and distorted throughout the conversation, similarly the background video becomes more distorted, cubed, reflected over time. The increased distortion of the images throughout the video is a reflection of my personal experience with the complexity of communication. The images appear on a phone screen, referencing the increased need for digital communication recently, I have had this exact conversation with a lot of people now. The same conversation is repeated multiple times in the video, this is how we learn our languages- with repetition from multiple contexts over time. I’m still learning my language, and I want to share with you. In my learning we’ve focused on speaking, not writing, therefore I’ve written how I would speak– there will be spelling errors, missing accent markers and special characters.
Bio:
Ha7lh skwayel tanuyap, na wa nántsaswit ta Kwiigay iiwaans, tiná7 chen tla Xaada Laas iy Sḵwx̱wu7meshúlh úxwumixw.
Good day everyone, my name is Kwiigay iiwaans, big precious cloud. I come from the Haida and Squamish Nations, currently living in so-called East Vancouver. I’m a 2s performing and multidisciplinary artist, #ActuallyAutistic spoonie.
I explore 2SQTIBIPOC futurism through mediums of illustration, graphic design, formline design, hand poke tattoos, murals, printmaking, beadwork and weaving.