In April 2024, the Institute of Cultural Studies and the Trans-Indigena Research Team at the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia in Katowice will host Floyd Favel, a theatre theorist, director, essayist, and cultural leader from the Poundmaker Cree Nation, an Indigenous community of the Cree people in Saskatchewan, Canada. Favel will share his knowledge and experience in Indigenous methodologies and performative processes rooted in Indigenous epistemologies, ontologies, traditional practices, storytelling and architecture.
Favel considers Indigenous performance as an artistic genre, not defined by any colonial category such as one based on identity. Favel states that ‘Identity as a colonial category is obsolete in regards to performance’. His work is rooted in spiritual, land-based and intercultural approaches and practices.
Favel will offer a unique opportunity to experience his method, shared in three parts: the first two (a lecture and workshops) are free and open to the university community as well as to secondary schools and artistic circles. These events are organised by the Trans-Indigena Research Team and will be held at the University of Silesia in Katowice. The workshops are primarily addressed to students interested in Indigenous methodologies, performance, arts and culture, but are also open to secondary school students. The third and culminating part, a weekend experience of the NPC method in relation to the land will be organised outside of the University in Krzywa, Beskidy Niskie, on 12-14 April. Participation in these workshops is possible only after registration.
Favel will also participate in a screening of his film about residential schools in Canada, followed by an open panel discussion regarding these schools in connection to the topic of minorities, recovery and the subjectivity of Indigenous cultures. Favel will be joined by invited panelists. This particular event, organised by Aneta Głowacka, PhD. Assoc. Prof., will take place on 15 April at 6.00 p.m. at Teatr Śląski im. Stanisława Wyspiańskiego (Stanisław Wyspiański Silesian Theatre) in Katowice.
The proposed events serve an educational, promotional and culturally immersive purpose, acting as a conduit for the application of scholarly insights in fostering cultural and social initiatives. Furthermore, these gatherings facilitate the ongoing international research and artistic collaboration between the Trans-Indigena team members and Floyd Favel.
Event schedule
PART I: Lecture
3 April, 1.45 -3.15 p.m., Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, ul. Grota Roweckiego 5, Sala Rady Wydziału – SRW (Faculty Council Room)
(open event, in English)
Indigenous Performance Beyond Colonial Categories
BOOK PROMOTION: Piszący z ziemi. Teatr indygenny Floyda Favela, ed. Aneta Głowacka, Eugenia Sojka, SIW, Katowice 2021
PART II: Two Days Workshop
8 and 10 April, 1.45 – 5.00 p.m, Faculty of Humanities of the University of Silesia, Sosnowiec, ul. Grota Roweckiego 5, Sala Rady Wydziału – SRW (Faculty Council Room)
(for registered participants, limited places, in English)
Workshop on NpC – Indigenous Performance Method and Process
Register: Sabina Sweta Sen-Podstawska, PhD sabina.sen@us.edu.pl
ADDITIONAL EVENTS:
PART III: Weekend Workshop with Ceremony
12-14 April, Krzywa, Beskid Niski
https://fb.me/e/6BPD5gr8j
Register: sabina.sweta@gmail.com
Film screening and panel discussion
15 April, 5.30 p.m., Teatr Śląski im. Stanisława Wyspiańskiego, Scena w Malarni (Stanisław Wyspiański Silesian Theatre, Stage in Paint Shop), Rynek 10, Katowice
Minorities. Recovery. A Discussion About The Subjectivity Of Indigenous Cultures
Contact: Aneta Głowacka, PhD. Assoc. Prof. aneta.glowacka@us.edu.pl
Floyd Favel
Floyd Favel is a theatre theorist, director, teacher, and essayist. He studied theatre in Denmark at the Tukak Teatret, a school for Inuit and Sami Peoples, and in Italy with Jerzy Grotowski, Polish theatre director. As the curator of the Poundmaker Museum, he won the 2018 International Indigenous Tourism Award, and he is the director of the Poundmaker Indigenous Performance Festival which he calls ‘an experiment in ceremony, performance and art in an Indigenous community within Indigenous structures’. He is deeply involved with his Indigenous community, living within it and is also one of the few traditional ceremonial leaders and a Sundance maker. In 2021, he produced and wrote the documentary Ashes and Embers, a film about the Delmas Indian Residential School fire of 1948, which premiered at the Presence Autochthone International Film Festival in Montreal, and was screened at the Imaginative Film Festival in Toronto. He is currently involved in another research project on Indigenous Residential Schools and is preparing a film. His book of collected essays on theatre methods and journalism was translated into Polish in 2021 by the University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland. It is the first published book which articulates and outlines an Indigenous theatrical method. Since 2014, he has taught Indigenous Storytelling as an adjunct professor at Concordia University, Montreal.
For detailed information and to register for workshops contact the organiser: Sabina Sweta Sen-Podstawska, PhD sabina.sen@us.edu.pl, Institute of Culture Studies, Trans-Indigena Research Team, Faculty of Humanities, University of Silesia in Katowice
The event is carried out as part of the European City of Science Katowice 2024 celebrations within the City-Region-Academia stream.