CyberPowWow is an

Indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...

-determined online gallery with digital artworks and a library of texts. Conceived in 1996, it was live online from 1997 to 2004 in four main iterations. ''CyberPowWow'' was part webspace and part

chatroom The term chat room, or chatroom (and sometimes group chat; abbreviated as GC), is primarily used to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing. The term can thus mean any technology, ranging from r ...

, and all artwork displayed on the website was created specifically for ''CyberPowWow''. The website was hosted in Time Warner's ''

The Palace ''The Palace'' is a British drama television series that aired on ITV in 2008. Produced by Company Pictures for the ITV network, it was created by Tom Grieves and follows a fictional British Royal Family in the aftermath of the death of King ...

'', a popular and influential chat room of the late 1990s and early 2000s.

First CyberPowWow exhibition

For the first ''CyberPowWow'' event six

artists and writers were invited to create original site-specific works. The exhibition was launched with a simultaneous, distributed chat event. Participating artists, writers, and the wider public were invited to log on to the ''Palace'' to engage artists and visitors in discussions about the artwork. Skawennati Tricia Fragnito (known professionally as Skawennati), one of the developers of ''CyberPowWow'', and Jason Edward Lewis state that, "the event was successful in terms of the Aboriginal art and issues it brought into a public venue," but that, "critical dialogue was often interrupted by 'non-participants' drifting in from other chat rooms."

CyberPowWow 2

''CyberPowWow 2'' signaled the launch of a separate ''Palace'' unique to ''CyberPowWow''. Eight Indigenous artists and writers customized the chat space with imagery, scripts, and a variety of "Indian" avatars. Artists presented their work and answered questions about it from an enthusiastic audience composed largely of people from the Canadian

contemporary art Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...

community. The participants included Ahasiw Maskegon-Iskwew, Sheryl Kootenhayoo, who contributed a Quicktime virtual reality piece, and

Lori Blondeau Lori Blondeau (born 1964) is a Cree/Saulteaux/Métis artist working primarily in performance art, but also in installation art, installation and photography. Blondeau is a member of the Gordon First Nation, and is based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Lif ...

, who created and led a virtual round dance.

CPW 2K: CyberPowWow Goes Global

The third incarnation of ''CyberPowWow'' included not only

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

and

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

artists, but, for the first time,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

artists as well as non-Indigenous artists. The Indigenous participants were joined by Mare Burgess, a white

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

researcher who studies "Indian" warrior women, and Sheila Urbanoski, a white artist who grew up in a town bordering a

reserve Reserve or reserves may refer to: Places * Reserve, Kansas, a US city * Reserve, Louisiana, a census-designated place in St. John the Baptist Parish * Reserve, Montana, a census-designated place in Sheridan County * Reserve, New Mexico, a US vi ...

. Skawennati remarked in her curatorial essay: "Now that we have marked our territory, built a Palace and furnished it, it is time to invite in our neighbors: digital artists in the non-Native world. These friends, collaborators, and kindred spirits can talk about the very topic that we are engendering: Aboriginal meets non-Aboriginal."

References

External links

*{{Official website, http://www.cyberpowwow.net/, name=CyberPowWow official website Native American art Indigenous art in Canada Virtual art museums and galleries Canadian websites Internet properties established in 1997

First CyberPowWow exhibition

CyberPowWow 2

CPW 2K: CyberPowWow Goes Global

References

Further reading

External links