Film Screening: Spruce Root Baskts
SPRUCE ROOT BASKET WITH EVAN BUTLER
Art as a Tool for Change Symposium
March5, 7-9 PM
In-person, 72 Harbour Drive
Through the Canadian Council of Arts funding the Bay St. George Mi’kmaq Cultural Revival Committee hosted a 2-day Spruce Root Basket workshop with basket-maker Dan White. This project was completed in 2019 and was filmed by Evan Butler. Join us for a film screening and discussion with Evan of Spruce Root Baskets.
Food will be available 30 mins prior to the event – come by early for a bite! If you have any dietary restrictions, please email rachel@easternedge.ca
Artist and aspiring filmmaker William Evan Butler has worked in a variety of media, exploring notions of identity and self, often linked to place. These themes come out of a desire to better understand his mixed Mi’kmaw and European heritage, and his identity as a Two-Spirited person. Having studied at NSCAD University, where his studio work focused on Photography & Design, Evan then completed a Masters of Philosophy in Humanities at Memorial University. In the years following, he created and operated an independent design studio named Flat Island, producing work for individuals and organisations, many linked to Indigenous communities in western Newfoundland and northern Ontario.
More recently, Evan took over the creative direction at Captive Expressions, the in-house film studio run by No’kmaq Village (Flat Bay Band, Inc.). From 2016–18, Evan created several short documentary films about local Indigenous culture and practices, and two series of Mi’kmaw language instruction videos. During his time with No’kmaq Village, Evan also worked on The Country, a documentary on the Mi’kmaq in Newfoundland, directed by Phyllis Ellis, which aired on the CBC Documentary channel. He has also partnered with the Bay St. George Mi’kmaq
Cultural Revival Committee to produce documentary videos, including Mimikej (Butterfly), about a Fancy Shawl Dancer and Spruce Roots Baskets, about a master basket maker returning home to teach this tradition to locals. Currently, Evan is developing another documentary film about Two Spirit regalia and an episodic series on Indigenous stories from his home region.
Art as a Tool for Change is supported in part by the Canadian Artist Presentation Fund.
Ce projet est financé par le gouvernement du Canada
