OCICIWAN
May 14, 2022
As part of Tsēmā’s ongoing project Black Gold, the performance and installation both reckon with mining practices and the indisputably thriving yet ruinous extractive industries in the colonial states of British Columbia and Alberta, particularly within the context of the Athabasca oil sands and the pipelines that run from Alberta to the west coast. In Oil We Trust is a critical examination of the traditions of flag-flying and how flags relate to colonial ceremony and nationhood, and in turn how these things intersect and conflict with Indigenous world-building. The performance will emulate a flag raising ceremony yet, rather than the typical territorial symbology, the flag here will be an image of bitumen: a proposal for a more realistic representation of Canada’s true interests and priorities. The durational installation is featured on a webcam live-feed of the raised flag, documenting its slow disintegration in the face of the elements and honoring the weather’s ability to ultimately dissolve the interests of colonial extraction.
In Oil We Trust is supported by the BC Arts Council, and the project was made possible with the help of research assistants Haley McLean and Britany Quinn. The live footage of the flag is available to view on the online exhibition of Black Gold: https://blkgold.ca
Presented by Ociciwan Contemporary Art Collective, 2022. Performance photos by Conor McNally. Text by Natasha Cheykowski