Jeneen Frei Njootli

Please join Artspace on Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 8PM for a special performance by Jeneen Frei Njootli. Frei Njootli’s performance will mark the opening of the artist’s solo work I can’t make you those mitts because there is a hole in my heart and my hands hurt. The one-night-only performance is free, but space is limited. A reception will follow the performance.

These events will coincide with the launch of a new publication that focuses on the work of Frei Njootli, with writing by Erin Sutherland and Olivia Whetung. The limited run of 150 publications will be available for purchase at Artspace or through the centre’s website.

“Jeneen Frei Njootli’s sounds tell stories, a sure sense of presence. They are stories of hooves on the earth, of interspecies whispers, and of the sacred place where life begins. Stories of bodies feeding other bodies. Stories of survival.”

– Olivia Whetung

Vuntut Gwitchin artist Jeneen Frei Njootli’s artistic practice engages directly with Gwich`in territory and culture through the artist’s lived experience and land based practices. Frei Njootli defines this as bushed theory – “a radical, grassroots way of being; one that requires getting some caribou blood and fiss guts on your hands.” Frei Njootli realizes this land-based methodology in the gallery by working with sounds, dust, grease, and power tools. The traces and residues of Frei Njootli’s sonic landscapes and physical markings remain once the artist’s body leaves the gallery space, reminding us of the artist’s labour, presence, and motion.

Bio:

Jeneen Frei Njootli is a Vuntut Gwitchin artist and co-creator of the ReMatriate collective, based on unceded Coast Salish Territories in Vancouver. Sound, performance, fashion, workshops and barbeques are some of the ways her practice takes shape. She is the recipient of the 2017 Contemporary Art Society of Vancouver Artist Prize.

If you have any questions please contact:
Jon Lockyer
Director + Curator; Artspace
jon@artspace-arc.org
705-748-3883