 Haruko Okano with her new 'Kimono' piece she is working on in Mexico this spring as part of the Simbiosis/Symbiosis project. by Joyce Majiski
The LLAMA Project team is gathering breath for its next project. After a successful residency and its inaugural Voz/Voice exhibition in Whitehorse in November/December 2009, we are waiting for news of the next exhibition venue.
In the meantime, 6 of the artists that participated in LLAMA’s first project, “Voz/Voice: the arts of resistance and resilience “, are involved in a new initiative led by Cesar Damian. With the help of a team of volunteers and support from the State of Hidalgo Cultural Branch and the University of Hidalgo, Cesar has created an organization called FRONDA. With FRONDA he hopes to initiate and foster creative projects with artists from Mexico and abroad.
Simbiosis/Symbiosis is FRONDA’s first project, which brings together 4 Canadian and 4 Mexican artists to Hidalgo over the months of April, May and early June. There are plans for an exhibition in Pachuca in October of 2010.
The LLAMA artists that are participating in Simbiosis/Symbiosis are Cesar Damian, Cristina Luna, Joyce Majiski, Haruko Okano, Adan Paredes and Lorena Silva. To learn more about the Simbiosis/Symbiosis project, visit FRONDA’s website (available in English and Spanish).
by Joyce Majiski
A number of artists involved in Voz/Voice, the LLAMA’s first project will be meeting with 2 new artists for an initiative led by Cesar Damian. The new project, called Symbiosis/Simbiosis, will bring the artists together for a residency in the state of Hidlago, to meet and create artwork (much like events that happened in Whitehorse last summer and fall). The new Mexico residency takes place in May and June 2010. Stay tuned for updates through the LLAMA website.
And, as a reminder, there is still Cafe LLAMA for sale. Purchase of this coffee helps support the LLAMA Project. And there are still free art vouchers to be found inside three of the cans!!!
by Joyce Majiski
Canto: a book of wishes by Joyce Majiski is now available on line. This is a collection of  the prayers/wishes that people added to the wheels during the Voz/Voice exhibition. If you added notes inside the wheels, check the e-book for your contributions. I didn’t use any personal messages in this e-book, but I did stay as true to the spelling and format of the writings as possible.
Some of my favorites were “May we find our way back to balance” “Hope for all sentient beings” and “Anything with a heart the size of a volkswagon should not be allowed to become extinct. We need all the heart in the world we can get”
Download the pdf file, print out the pages and create your own copy of Canto
 ABSORBING CULTURE – Ted Menzies (left), parliamentary secretary to federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, tours the Yukon Arts Centre Gallery this morning (De. 17/09) with Al Cushing, the centre’s CEO. Photo by Vince Fedoroff, Whitehorse Star. by Joyce Majiski
The LLAMA Project’s show, Voz/Voice, is drawing visitors from all over the place, even our federal government in Ottawa. Yesterday, I was at the Art Centre Gallery showing my neighbour around the exhibitio when the CEO of the Centre, Al Cushing, came in with four men in suits. One of them was the Yukon’s Senator, Dan Lang, who had brought the others to see the gallery.
After my neighbour had left the gallery, I walked over to chat with one of the men, explaining some of the background of my work and that of Adan.
I briefly told him the story of the jaguars represented in the show. I talked about how globalization had made it impossible for people to survive off sales of coffee, vanilla and chiles in Oaxaca, and how subsequent government-led programs encouraged villagers to cut tropical forests to raise livestock (not very successfully). This in turn has led to jaguars killing livestock. It is a story about the loss of habitat, loss of culture, loss of wildlife.
Even though an artist run project has helped to reintroduce one jaguar back to its home, the problem hasn’t been solved. We discussed endangered species and spaces at risk, among other issues, and I was impressed at the level of engagement this group had with the work in the gallery and their interest in the themes of the artwork.
I found out later the man I had been speaking with was an advisor to the Minister of Finance, up for meetings in Whitehorse…. I suppose he didn’t really need a lesson on globalization.
 by Joyce Majiski
I had a great hour with a grade 6 class in the gallery last Friday (27th Nov). We talked about some of the themes of the exhibition: starting with how people and animals migrate and moved on to how habitat loss and globalization can result in the threat of extinction for many wild animal species and cultural loss.
As we wove through the gallery, the artwork was used to illustrate and reinforce these themes. The students made notes and did some rubbings of Canto, my prayer wheels, to be used as reference materials.
In January I will be revisiting the students in their classroom to help them create a cyclical artists book, based on some of the ideas we touched on in the gallery. I look forward to working with them in the new year, they were enthusiastic and engaged, a treat to work with.
Jessica Landry, in cooperation with MAP Communications, kindly created an audio soundscape which brings the listener into the creative mind of the artists: what is their work about and where do they draw inspiration from.
Using original recordings from both Canada and Mexico, this soundscape weaves together ambient sound, language and music, offering behind-the-scenes glimpses into the LLAMA Project exhibit. Enjoy!
(You can listen to the file here or download it on our Exhibitions page).
 From Haruko Okano
Please write in the books in the show!
I’d like to gently remind Yukon residents to write your reflections in the books of All Fall Down, the paper tree installation that is part of the exhibition at the Yukon Art Centre’s gallery. I want this work to go to Mexico and elsewhere with the direct voice of Yukoners.
Why did you choose to live in the Yukon? What keeps you here? What are your concerns or do you have any about the future of the Yukon?
Give insight about your daily life in the far north that other people might not know about – in this land where you live in the largest, intact remaining boreal forest in the world.
It is important that it be only Yukon residents, and not visitors from elsewhere, that write in the books in order for the image painted in words and narrative remain that of those who live in the Yukon on a daily basis.
by Joyce Majiski
Last night the temperature dropped to -14 and, as I followed my path from studio to cabin, weaving between the trees, I could see a clear sky with stars blazing and the Milky Way streaking overhead. So many nights while Lorena and Cristina were here we waited eagerly to see the northern lights. I have to report that I still haven’t seen any since they have been gone.
My studio seems bigger now that everyone is gone, and dinners just aren’t the same without the philosophical chats in a mixture of Spanish and English. I am enjoying my freedom of movement, but missing the companionship and being around people who understand the necessity of creating.
Cesar has been in touch with plans about what we are going to be doing in Hidalgo when I go down in the spring. In the meantime, I will enjoy the quiet time, study my Spanish verbs and collect myself for the next phase.
by Haruko Okano
Everything looks great in the Voz/Voices exhibition at the Yukon Art Gallery. Inspired by finally getting to see what artists have created, I will start researching possible venues in the rest of Canada that can take such a large exhibition. First I will have to contact all the artists involved and set up agreements between all of us before I launch, in case there are some who will want to move on to some other project.
Meanwhile, I’ve returned to Vancouver (mid the winter rain and clouds) with my compadres Cristina and Lorena. We’ve had a short but wonderful time together, strengthening our bond between each other. They were able to purchase the things they needed to buy here in Canada.
What’s next for me
I get to rest for a few days before the massive Eastside Culture Crawl that originated with the artists in my studio building. The Culture Crawl involves artists/artisans opening up their studios to the public for 3 days. It has grown from around 90 artist studios to this year, 300.
The Crawl is for artists/artisans whose studios exist within a specific area of the city, mainly from Main Street and east and from Broadway north to the shore of Burrard Inlet. Read the full story……
Last week’s opening of the LLAMA Project’s exhibition VOZ/VOICE: the arts of resistance and resilience was a well-attended and upbeat event. To get a glimpse of what went on, what was in the show and what people thought of it all, take a look at this short video (4:30).
And once you have seen the exhibition, consider leaving a comment in the previous blog piece “What did you think of the show?” (dated Nov. 6th). Think of it as a virtual guest book where you can share comments with future viewers and with the LLAMA Project’s Mexican and Canadian artists.
Be sure to catch this exhibition while you can! It is showing until Dec. 22nd.
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Worth noting! NEW E-Book available
Joyce Majiski has published a new e-book called "Canto: a collection of wishes". The e-book, available online for free, contains images of Joyce's work and the wishes or prayers left by the public in her copper Canto prayer wheels at the Voz/Voice exhibition. Check it out on our e-book page.
Cesar – Toward Motion
(Click on four arrows to watch larger version)
Filmmaker Allan Code, of Nah Ho Productions kindly edited and shared some of his film footage of Cesar Damian, taken while Cesar was working on his migration project in the Yukon.
As Allan says Cesar reflects the fundamental joy and expressive power of motion. Amazingly; he does it in a single frame. With such passionate attention; what might we yet do with motion pictures and the stories we must tell?
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