Category: Film

Through 10/30: RiverRun International Film Festival Shares with North Carolinians ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak)

When it comes to the study of cultures, language and stories might be considered “keys to the kingdom.”  Elders who are native speakers of the Cherokee language, along with young students/teachers from the Cherokee Nation, share some of their wisdom with us in the documentary film ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak). Filmmakers, Schon Duncan and Michael McDermit created a beautiful, must-see film that will impress anyone interested in the Cherokee people, their culture, and, most importantly, their language. ᏓᏗᏬᏂᏏ (We Will Speak) has been made available to North Carolinians for viewing online from October 16-30.

From the start of the film, I was drawn to the simplicity and authenticity. The speakers are Native people, some of them for whom the Cherokee language was their first language. The intent of the filmmakers, it seems, is to relay the sense of urgency for teaching and preserving the language through an intensive effort by many. Most of those individuals consider themselves student/teachers, young folks who have gone through training to pass along a language that is quickly dying along with their elders. The Cherokee Nation has an ambitious goal: to insure that in fifty years, 80% of the Cherokee members will be fluent. The elders are less concerned, however. They have been raised to think ahead to the next seven generations. No need to be in a hurry. Perhaps their wisdom will prevail.

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The People’s Collection, Reimagined, Weekend Party at the NC Museum of Art
 

The North Carolina Museum of Art is one of our state’s great treasures, and its goal of bringing the fine arts to everyone and engaging with its surrounding community is exemplary. I was so pleased to get to tour NCMA on Tuesday morning during a media preview of the entirely reorganized and revitalized (not to mention rebranded!) museum. The central purpose of this visit was to view what NCMA is calling The People’s Collection, Reimagined; its current display of over 1000 artworks that include gifted works, original commissions, and international loans.

Exciting new changes in the West Building include better wayfinding and organization – including bilingual English and Spanish signage), through galleries that have been creatively diversified. Director Valerie Hillings spoke about the opportunity the NCMA has had to examine new perspectives and tell new stories through the reorganization of the museum, presenting new and underrepresented artists and contextualizing the historical pieces to make them more accessible to modern audiences. She reminded that “all art is contemporary when it is made,” so it was important for the curators to focus on how the artworks were utilized, displayed, or considered both at their creation and over time.

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The People’s Collection, Reimagined, Weekend Party at the NC Museum of Art
 

The North Carolina Museum of Art is one of our state’s great treasures, and its goal of bringing the fine arts to everyone and engaging with its surrounding community is exemplary. I was so pleased to get to tour NCMA on Tuesday morning during a media preview of the entirely reorganized and revitalized (not to mention rebranded!) museum. The central purpose of this visit was to view what NCMA is calling The People’s Collection, Reimagined; its current display of over 1000 artworks that include gifted works, original commissions, and international loans.

Exciting new changes in the West Building include better wayfinding and organization – including bilingual English and Spanish signage), through galleries that have been creatively diversified. Director Valerie Hillings spoke about the opportunity the NCMA has had to examine new perspectives and tell new stories through the reorganization of the museum, presenting new and underrepresented artists and contextualizing the historical pieces to make them more accessible to modern audiences. She reminded that “all art is contemporary when it is made,” so it was important for the curators to focus on how the artworks were utilized, displayed, or considered both at their creation and over time.

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