Indigenous students unveil digital art inspired by cultural objects at the Royal Ontario Museum

Indigenous students from OCADUniversity in Torontogot the chance this year to breathe life into cultural artifacts stored away atthe Royal Ontario Museum by creatingnew digital artwork inspired by them.

Nine students in OCADUniversity's Indigenous Visual Culture program were able to each select an Indigenous culturalartifact from the museum's collections to study. The artifacts informed their creative process in developing digital art projects, which will live in a digital space on the ROM's website once complete.

When Megan Feheleystarted working on herproject in early September, her motherwas curious about what kinds of Indigenous objects the ROM hadin itscollection. Feheleytold her about three Cree-made hoods.

Her motherwas adamant that she studythe hoods or another object from their traditional territory of Moose Factory, said Feheley.

"Growing up, she never hadaccess to these things, and I was in a position where I was very lucky to choose and spend time with and share space with these beautiful beings that are here in the ROM."

Feheley's digital project is a 3D rendering of the Woodlands Cree hood she's been spending time with. The final project will have interactive storytelling and sound elements.

She said she wants it to tell a story of futurity and resurgence.

"My hood might be digital but it's still a hood, it's still wrapped up in all that tradition and understanding," she said.

The overall projectwas conceivedlastsummer withtheMinistryof Indigenous Relations andReconciliation, which waslooking for Indigenous participation in Canada 150 in the form of a web project.

BonnieDevine,an associate professor atOCADUniversity and the founding chair of the Indigenous visual culture program, said the idea wasthat Indigenous students would benefit by gaining access to the materials that are located in the ROMarchive,and their experience could be translated into something that would reach across the province to other Indigenous populations.

Students have been working all year on theirindividualprojects and will soon begin finalizing conceptualizations.

"We see this as an opportunity to 'requicken'these objects, tobringthem back into their role in the community," she said.

"They have work to do, the objects do. They have a story to tell and our communities have been hungry for those stories."

Shawn Johnston, who is Anishinaabefrom Elliot Lake, Ont., isenrolled in the part-time degree completion program atOCADUniversity with a focus on integrated media.

The artifact he studied was a deer claw rattle.

"I've had an opportunity to go in and spend a lot of time with my object in particular, and to have access to these objects I think is really important," he said.

"Not just for a student doing research,but to go in and see things ... that might have been dormant for a while.It definitely gives me a chance to explore my heritage and expand my knowledge about tradition and explore community."

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