Our Knowledge is Power: The Cultures of Beauty and Survival in Isle de Jean Charles, LA and Shishmaref, AK

Artists Dennis Davis and Chantel Comardelle have partnered to bring a multimedia exhibit showcasing the beauty of culture and the price of the climate crisis. The stunning images will introduce you to their communities and sacred traditions. The voice of elders and stories of seasons past will transport you to a time when life was less complex . The turbulent and unjust events of climate and environmental crisis will invoke inward reflection on your future choices.

Hundreds of journalists have photographed and written about life in Isle de Jean Charles and Shishmaref, Alaska –Kigiqtamiut Inupiat and Jean Charles Choctaw Nation lands — but none has shown the whole heart of the story. Along with homes falling in the ocean, and roads covered in water, this exhibit captures the love, warmth, power, knowledge and genius of Indigenous lifeways, of living with the environment in sustainable relations, while showing simultaneously the struggle of adapting to a quickly changing environment and a political world that cannot cope with these changes.

Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 9 | 3-5pm

Artist Talk & Film Screening:
Friday, September 22 | 4-7pm