ILLUMINATE THE LOCK:RETURNING THE RIVER
BY MIKE HOYT, DAMEUN STRANGE, AND DIVER VAN AVERY WITH RITIKA GANGULY
SEPTEMBER 20, 21, 22 – 2018
UPPER SAINT ANTHONY FALLS LOCK AND DAM

A HEADING

A night of poetry, projection, and music will illuminate a future where both rivers and people are liberated, where we celebrate wildness, and where we practice reciprocal relationships between all bodies of water, including one another’s.  

Returning the River tells the story of a daughter born into a time of walls whose life is intrinsically linked to the life of a paddlefish. Participants will take in visual projections on the water by Mike Hoyt, a soundscape composed by Dameun Strange and a story written and narrated by Molly Van Avery from a boat in the Lock chamber and sung by Ritika Ganguly from above. Come listen and sing along. Hold water drawn up from below, imbue it with blessings for descendants, and then pour it back into the river to make its way towards liberation.

Read an interview with the artists here.

Illuminate the Lock is a program that uses the 49 foot tall chamber of Upper Saint Anthony Falls Lock & Dam as a platform for artistic intervention. Each night of programming is free and open to the public.  

Presented by Northern Lights.mn, Mississippi Park Connection, and the National Park Service with support from St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board and the US Army Corps of Engineers.

 

 

 

HANABATA DAYS

Hanabata Days is a graphic memoir that explores the unexpected reunion of a father and son, 47 years after separation.The diasporic story unfolds visually over the span of 60+ years navigating shifting geographic and cultural dissonance, from pre-tourism Hawai’i to present day Middle America. Its central characters’ hidden pasts are made visible to one another after searching for answers compelled by hope, premonition, the stars, currents, and the introduction of ancestral coordinates unlocked via shared genetic data.How do two familial strangers proceed forward and make meaning together? What possible pasts can be known and never known? What secrets should remain buried? And is their path to redemption intricately dependent on one another? Hanabata Days connects two lives impacted by different forms of colonization, silence, and ambiguous longing. Each seeking to reckon with their complex pasts towards reclamation.

 

 

Interview with Haley Radke: 09/29/23 produced by Adoptees On.

Adoptees On: The podcast where adoptees discuss the adoption experience.


 

 

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Michael Hoyt (May 24, 2022)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 160 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0578290987
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0578290980
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.63 x 0.43 x 10.25 inches

Available for purchase at Xia Gallery or online.

 

DREAMSLAND (2015-present)


Dreamsland is a site specific community led public space that invites people to explore equitable land stewardship and practice creative neighboring. Dreamsland is an open platform where neighbors host gatherings and workshops, organize community action, share meals, incubate and test initiatives, and form deeper connections. Dreamsland will return to Lakota ownership on or before 2040. 

 

Dreamsland open for activation year round. Over 200 events, gatherings, and initiatives have been convened by residents and artist organizers including;

the TRCSTR cohort, Twin Cities Sex Workers Collective, CANDO, Plant-Grow-Share, HECUA, Centra Area Graphic Art Collective, Creatives After Curfew, the Art Blocks initiative, Free Black Dirt, among others. Dreamsland can be reserved by calling: (six-one-two) 524-9407. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This film was made by students in the HECUA program Making Media, Making Change in partnership with Saint Paul Neighborhood Network (SPNN). 2016