Broken Headphones Studio 393

On today's episode, we have the pleasure and the privilege to speak with Dakota Bear, Saskatoon-born, Vancouver-based Indigenous hip-hop artist, entrepreneur and social justice warrior.

On today's episode, we are joined by an amazing trio of artists - Hassaan Ashraf, Ally Gonzalo, & Chukwudubem Ukaigwe - as they share their insights and experiences with pricing themselves as artists and valuing their worth.
Treaty 1 based, multidisciplinary artist Hassaan Ashraf has been focusing on their skills as a painter and calligraphy artist for the last couple of years. Originally a lens based artist, Hassaan has tried to follow the spiral of change in their practice as they have focused on exploring a multitude of mediums throughout their art life. Their practice flourishes the most while collaborating with artist friends who share similar values and political standing. They hope to continue their practice once the pandemic is a thing of the past and nourishment through community and friends becomes a possibility again. Currently, their focus is working as an artist, curator and admin person at TakeHome BIPOC Artshouse, an artist run centre and community nourishment studio space they opened with Annie Beach, Brenden Gali and Sappfyre Mcleod in Oct 2021 for and by BIPOC folks exclusively.
Ally Gonzalo is a queer, first-generation Filipinx man who settled in Treaty 1 Territory back in 2016. Adept in social media and marketing coordination, Ally uses his skills to foster community engagement at the grassroots level.⠀Additionally, he has over 7 years of experience in photography and specializes in honest, intimate portraits. He is formally trained in the field of photography and has received education in History and Political Science from his motherland as well.
Chukwudubem Ukaigwe is a Nigerian-born song, dispersed by a transient Atlantic breeze, currently passing through Treaty 1 Territory, so called Canada. He consciously uses a variety of mediums to relay a plurality of ideas at any given time. He views his art practice as a conversation or a portal into one, and, in some instances, as an interpretation of this ongoing exchange. Chukwudubem weighs an occurrence, feeling, or idea on a scale and then creates a narrative in his own language. He operates as an interdisciplinary artist, curator, writer, and cultural worker, and is the founder of Patterns Collective. He is also the current editor of Plug In ICA Editions Online.
The moderator for our event, our own Studio 393 Assistant Manager, Annie Beach, a visual artist, born and based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Treaty One Territory. Beach is Cree/Saulteaux/Ukrainian, with relations from Peguis First Nation.

Today we speak with Destiny Seymour, founder of Indigo Arrows, a home decor brand that is inspired by local Indigenous pottery patterns. All products are handcrafted in Winnipeg, Manitoba in small batches using 100% linen and eco-friendly inks. In Seymour's own words "For thousands of years, Indigenous peoples in Manitoba, including my Anishinaabe ancestors, created beautiful patterns to adorn their pottery collections and host of bone tools. Most of the surviving pieces are held by museums now, but I think the world needs more than exhibition- we need these patterns in our homes provoking thought; we need thembridging gaps; and, we need them inspiring our loved ones. The Indigo Arrows line picks up where my ancestors left off."

On today's episode we're joined by Kimmortal, a queer non-binary filipinx multi-disciplinary artist and activist born a fire sign in the year of the earth dragon. Their ancestry is Ilocano and Visayan from Pangasinan and Negros Occidental. A musician (rapper, singer) with a background in art and theatre, Kimmortal's honest wordplay and visuals tell stories of reclaiming one’shealing and confronting social issues facing their generation.

393 got to chat with writer/ poet Natasha Ramoutar about her Bittersweet Anthology. She describes it as a collage, loving to create, "that feeling of uncertainty and A dream like state."
"Natasha Ramoutar is an Indo-Guyanese writer by way of Scarborough (Ganatsekwyagon) at the east side of Toronto. She is the Social Media Assistant at the Festival of Literary Diversity. Her poetry collection, Bittersweet, was published by Mawenzi House in 2020. She is the fiction editor of Feel Ways, an anthology of Scarborough writing, published in 2021. She lives in Scarborough, Ontario." - From Mawenzi House publishing.

Today we speak with Leanne Betasamosake Simpson about her latest album Theory Of Ice. In addition to being a fantastic musicians, Leanne is one of the most compelling and important Indigenous voices of her generation, and is the renowned author of Noopiming: The Cure for White Ladies (named a best book of the year by the Globe and Mail); This Accident of Being Lost (winner of the MacEwan University Book of the Year; finalist for the Rogers Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize and the Trillium Book Award; named a best book of the year by the Globe and Mail, the National Post, and Quill & Quire); and As We Have Always Done: Indigenous Freedom Through Radical Resistance (awarded Best Subsequent Book by the Native American and Indigenous Studies Association). Theory Of Ice is Leanne's second album of music, and the follow-up to 2016's f(l)ight.