Artists and Designers

Photo by: Nadya Kwandibens / Artist: Celeste Pedri-Spade

Kanien’kehá:ka / Canada

Skawennati

Discipline:

Fashion

Skawennati makes art that addresses history, the future, and change from her perspective as an urban Kanien’kehá:ka woman and as a cyberpunk avatar. She creates machinimas (movies made in virtual environments) as well as still images, textiles and sculpture. Her work has been widely presented in both group exhibitions and solo shows and is included in public and private collections, such as the National Gallery of Canada and the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal.This is her first fashion show. Born in Kahnawà:ke Mohawk Territory, Skawennati belongs to the Turtle clan. She holds a BFA from Concordia University in Montreal, where she is based. She is Co-Director of Aboriginal Territories in Cyberspace (AbTeC), a research-creation collective who investigate and create Indigenous virtual environments. Their Skins workshops in Aboriginal Storytelling and Experimental Digital Media are aimed at empowering youth. In 2015 they launched IIF, the Initiative for Indigenous Futures.