Kitchen Table, 2015. 6 audio files.
I am a non-Indigenous Canadian that grew up with an incomplete view of Canadian history. As a first step in trying to reconnect the dots, I have read the Truth and Reconciliation Report several times and created art projects in support of reading it.
Outlining a much-needed perspective from the voices of indigenous peoples, it is essential to understand how this history continues to impact this land. Our current state is built on this traumatic history and to move forward in creating a peaceful world, we need to know more of the facts. The Report is brilliant yet challenging, long and uncomfortable to read. That is exactly why we need to read it.
My projects encourage people to read even small portions of the Report in a welcome atmosphere in the hopes that they will investigate more and speak to others about it. Most people are genuinely surprised at the content.
Placing a welcoming Kitchen Table in public places encourages passersby to stop, read and inquire. In the audio clips below, other Canadians and I are recorded reading the Report. I personally found the act of reading the document aloud, allowed me to slow down and understand the readings more. Yet others are worried about their voice and pronunciation. We are all learning and bumbling through this information together.
1trckitchen – Introduction
2trckitchen – Introduction
3trckitchen – Introduction
4trckitchen – Introduction
5trckitchen – Commission Activities
6trckitchen – Commission Activities
I aim to continue to post recordings as I gather them through other public events.
There is also fantastic audio reading on the TRC site here. Listen to a new section each day.
TRC audio recordings from TRC website
There are many controversial opinions and prejudices surrounding these issues. I am recording my learning through my art. bell hooks stresses in Feminism: a transformational politic, that we all play the roles of both victims and perpetrators in our everyday lives. hooks calls for conscious discussion within small groups about the power structures we live in.
Denise Holland 