ON DEMAND

SuperWomen: MARJORIE BEAUCAGE

Screening + Interview

Apr 12, 10:00 PM - May 1, 03:45 AM

Curator

Midi Onodera

Artist

Marjorie Beaucage

SuperWomen: Conversations with the Real Action Figures

Midi Onodera in conversation with Marjorie Beaucage

6pm: Screening

8pm: Interview

Bingo by Marjorie Beaucage (18mins / Canada / 1991)

How is it that bingo has such a hold on people? What does it take to be a winner? What does luck have to do with it? “Bingo” is an exploration of these questions from the inside out.

The "bingo mind" is formed with the belief that there isn't enough to go around and you're lucky if you get some. The social and ritual elements of the game are captured in the textures of the images and sounds created to explore the themes of winning and losing. The stylized dramatizations of childhood memories provide the backdrop for the "script" of scarcity that is internalized and played out in the game of life.

Marjorie Beaucage is a Two Spirit Elder, filmmaker, cultural worker, and community-based video activist. Culture is a collective agreement. Being Métis, she is committed to building cultural bridges between worlds. Her life work has been about creating social change, working to give people the tools for creating possibilities and right relations. Whether in the classroom, community organizations or the arts, her goal has been to pass on the stories, knowledge and skills that will make a difference for the future.

Recently, Beaucage has been an advocate for creating safe places for Two Spirit youth in Saskatchewan, whether it be Trans youth in the Corrections system, homelessness or in LGBT Community centres like OUT Saskatoon. It is her dream to restore the cultural and spiritual inheritance of Two Spirit in Indigenous societies.

All my relations,

Marjorie Beaucage

Vimeo Channel https://vimeo.com/marjoriebeaucage

References for Marjorie Beaucage Interview:

Marjorie Beaucage was a spotlight artist on VUVAVU in November 2020.
Marjorie Beaucage in conversation with Lisa Myers and Jessie Ray Short
50 Years of Indigenous-Made Cinema in Canada: A Celebration – Reel Canada. March 28, 2019 (a good, yet incomplete history focused on mainstream productions)
LIFT has digitized their newsletters from 1985-. This is an excellent resource of community events, articles and film workshops.
The Aboriginal Film and Video Art Alliance: Indigenous Self-Government in Moving Image Media by Karrmen Crey. JCMS: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies, Volume 60, Number 2, Winter 2021, pp. 175-180

ANNPAC/RACA:

Association of National Non-Profit Artists Centres (ANNPAC) /Regroupement D'Artistes Des Centres Alternatifs (RACA) was an umbrella organization of artist-run centres in Canada, then known as parallel galleries. (1976-1993). Parallelogramme was the ANNPAC national bilingual publication with varying publication dates from biannually to quarterly (1976-1994). Some editors were Barbara Shapiro (1970-1976), Tanya Mars (1978-1989) Lynne Fernie (1987-1994) and Monika Kin Gagnon (1989-1994)

Minquon Panchayat was an important Caucus composed of indigenous and people of colour that was empowered for a two-year term by ANNPAC in 1992 to address systemic racism and open access to artist run centres for minoritized or excluded peoples. Caucus members were: Lillian Allen, Shirley Bear, Dana Claxton, Cheryl L'Hirondelle, Marrie Mumford, Paul Wong, David Woods and Monika Kin Gagnon.

Minquon Panchayat’s broad goals were: to transform ANNPAC as an organization by bringing significant numbers of new artists and existing organizations run by artists of colour and First Nations into ANNPAC’s membership; to educate and transform already existing member centres and their memberships; and to network with First Nations individuals and people of colour already working within the current ANNPAC centres.
After one year's work and after extraordinary achievements and a two-day festival of works by BIPOC performance and media artists (It's a Cultural Thing) at the AGM in Calgary in 1993, the Caucus was challenged, treated as if it were financially irresponsible and accused of not sharing their activities by some Artist Run Centre representatives from across the country. This occurred despite the fact that each issue of Parallelogramme included an update and reports on activities, and finances and spending were reported throughout the year to ANNPAC’s management. Additional conditions to be imposed upon the original agreement with the Caucus for it’s last year of work were tabled. Although many ARC reps dissented, the majority passed a motion to impose these new conditions. The Caucus withdrew, and Nancy Shaw, the vice-president of ANNPAC, and Lynne Fernie, then co-editor of Parallelogramme, resigned in support of the Caucus. The failure to honour the terms that were negotiated for the two-year commitment was traumatic, and lead to the unravelling of ANNPAC as an organization and institution.