to the living, the dead, and those yet unborn

2830_to-the-living,-the-dead-and-those-yet-unborn-1.jpg
  • to the living, the dead, and those yet unborn

  • Artist: James Nicholas
  • Year: 2004
  • Duration: 10:45
  • Country: Canada
  • In this inter-textual video, the author, director, and actor, James Nicholas weaves Taras Schevenko's (poet in feudal Ukraine) poem with thoughts of his own in Cree.
    His reading of Shevchenko's Poem Poslanyi is disrupted by the artist portrayed as a drunk. The drunkenness is also a medicine. The artist is suggesting that drunkenness is a form of resistance and/or self-inflicted cultural genocide. The first victim is language wherein culture abides. Just as Shevchenko admonishes his own people, the artist is self critical. This video takes a broader look at the use of alcohol through two nations that have been historically oppressed.

  • Accession #: 2830
  • Distribution Status: In Distribution
Video Out