CLIENT BROADCAST: #BarryAce featured in @APTN’s @futurehistorytv #REBUILD #Episode

Future History celebrates the reclamation and revitalization of Indigenous knowledge. It explores the diverse perspectives and knowledge within the Indigenous community to create a deeper understanding about our shared history, while looking forward to a brighter future.

Last year, Barry Ace (www.barryacearts.com) was back home on Manitoulin Island (Odawa Mnis) to get started on work he will be completing for his 2020 exhibition at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation (OCF) in M’Chigeeng First Nation, where he is from. While there, he worked with Anishinaabe master potter David Migwans using clay sourced from the island to create handbuilt vessels. Barry is known for innovating on tradition, incorporating electrical components and digital technology into his work that is rooted in Anishinaabe practice and aesthetic. Kris Nahrgang, one of the hosts of APTN’s Future History TV, came up to document OCF and speak with the director, Anong Beam. Synchronicity had it that Barry and David were working on pottery at OCF at the same time. As the Future History team were focusing on pottery in the collection room with Anong, Barry’s work provided a perfect opportunity to segue into another interview linking traditional pottery to contemporary art. In the episode, Barry speaks regarding his new pottery work as well as Bandolier for M’Chigeeng, one of his bandolier bags made with electronic and digital components, that he gifted to OCF’s permanent collection.

The full episode, as well as Future History’s archive of episodes with Kris’ co-host Sarain Fox, can be viewed on APTN here.

Read more on Barry’s work with David on his Nigig News feed and view more of his current vessels and bandolier bags on his website.

ABOVE IMAGES: From top to bottom, Barry Ace beside his bandolier bag, Bandolier for M’Chigeeng, at the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation; Handbuilt clay vessel by Barry Ace; The view, Manitoulin Island (Odawa Mnis). All images by Leah Snyder.