A Casual Reconstruction explores open conversation to examine the relationship between language, identity and human connection. Driven by the desire to have an honest discussion about Indigenous identity/mixed identity, artist Nadia Myre invites viewers on an intimate journey to probe the meaning of cultural distinctiveness. The interweaving of video projection and audio narratives serves as an intriguing rumination in understanding the meaning of belonging and the importance of the art of listening.

Nadia Myre is an Algonquin member of the Kitigan Zibi Anishinaabeg First Nation, a visual artist living in Montreal (Quebec) whose multi-disciplinary practice is inspired by participant involvement as well as recurring themes of identity, language, longing and loss. She is a graduate from Concordia University (M.F.A., 2002) and a recipient of Les Elles de l’art (2011), CALQ’s Prix à la création artistique pour la région des Laurentides (2009), and an Eiteljorg Fellowship (2003).

Nadia Myre's profile page

Suzanne Luke is the Curator of the Robert Langen Art Gallery at Wilfrid Laurier University.

Suzanne Luke's profile page

Louise Halfe has three book publications to her credit. Bear Bones & Feathers was published by Coteau Books in 1994. It received the Canadian Peoples Poet Award, and was a finalist for the Spirit of Saskatchewan Award in that year. Blue Marrow was originally published by McLelland & Stewart in 1998; its revised edition was released by Coteau Books in September 2004. It was a finalist for both the Governor General’s Award for Poetry and the Pat Lowther Award, and for the 1998 Saskatchewan Book of the Year Award and the Saskatchewan Poetry Award. Her most recent work, The Crooked Good, was published in 2007. Louise Bernice Halfe's Cree name is Sky Dancer. She was born on the Saddle Lake Reserve in Two Hills, Alberta in 1953. At the age of seven, she was sent to the Blue Quills Residential School in St. Paul, Alberta. She left residential school of her own accord when she was sixteen, breaking ties with her family and completing her studies at St. Paul's regional high school. It was at this time that she began writing a journal about her life experiences. Halfe made her debut as a poet in Writing the Circle: Native Women of Western Canada, the acclaimed anthology of life-writings by Native women. In 1993 she was awarded third prize in the League of Canadian Poets' national poetry contest and was Saskatchewan’s Poet Laureate for 2005-2006.

Louise Bernice Halfe's profile page

Sara Matthews is Assistant Professor, Department of Global Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University.

Sara Matthews' profile page