Skip to content
Join our Newsletter

Indigenous VR project makes its last stop in Vancouver

What will Canada look like 150 years into the future from the perspective of Indigenous communities? Born out of a love for science fiction and alternate realities, 2167 An Indigenous VR Project , presents the work of four Indigenous filmmakers at Gr

What will Canada look like 150 years into the future from the perspective of Indigenous communities?

Born out of a love for science fiction and alternate realities, 2167 An Indigenous VR Project, presents the work of four Indigenous filmmakers at Grunt Gallery on 350 E 2nd Ave. imagineNATIVE, the world’s largest presenter of Indigenous screen content, selected Danis Goulet, Kent Monkman, Scott Benesiinaabandan and the interdisciplinary arts collective Postcommodity to produce the video installations. They are all multidisciplinary artists who are prominent in the filmmaking and art community across Canada.

 The Hunt, Danis Goulet - imagineNATIVE photo The Hunt, Danis Goulet - imagineNATIVE photo

Vancouver is the last stop on a cross-Canada tour and it ends tomorrow, December 21.  Over two months, the exhibition has reached over 1000 people in 13 communities across Canada. 

Exhibition visitors will view each film on Oculus Rift glasses connected to a Samsung S6 while sitting on a swivel chair with a headset on. As a viewer of 2167, you are forced to spin in the chair to ensure you see all the surroundings and experience the full effects of the film.

2167 intentionally leaps forward in time to imagine the next 150 years as a time where Indigenous people can assert themselves as primary actors in the evolution of Canadian society. This project has created a vehicle of discussion for continuing the conversation of Indigenous futures in a positive way.

 Each Branch Determined, Postcommodity - imagineNATIVE photoEach Branch Determined – Postcommodity / imagineNATIVE photo

Daniel Northway-Frank, Institute Director at imagineNATIVE, said, for the most part, the entire project has been completely Indigenous driven.

Concordia University hosts a research network - The Initiative for Indigenous Futures (IIF) - which encourages and enables artists, academics, youth and elders to imagine how them and their communities will look in the future. IIF created a vehicle for imagineNATIVE to begin having these discussions and they don't plan on stopping the conversation anytime soon.

“We’re still looking for new opportunities to present the work,” Northway-Frank said. “We’re applying to Paris Virtual Film Festival and we have 10 to 12 different inquiries requests from across the country.”

TIFF is a presenting partner of the exhibition as part of their Canada On Screen initiative and they will be featuring the 2167 films until December 31st.