Interdisciplinary artists, Émilie Monnet and Waira Nina have known each other for more than twenty years. While the first is of Anishinaabe and French origin, the second, originally from the Caquetá region, in the Colombian Amazon, belongs to the Inga nation. “We met in Spain, in Bilbao,” remembers Monnet. I was doing my master’s there. Waira was visiting for an indigenous leadership course. »
Between the woman of the North and that of the South, it is the beginning of a solid friendship, a complicity which has been embodied for a dozen years in research and creation. “It was the universe that brought us together,” says Waira Nina. During a ceremony, I had a vision. I saw cities like I had never visited, a world that I did not know. Shortly after, I set foot in Europe for the first time and met Émilie. Between the two of us, it’s magical, predestined. »
After presenting several performances here and there, the two creators are preparing to unveil a first major show on the Espace Go stage, during the TransAmériques Festival. Nigamon/Tunai (“the song” in the Anishinaabemowin language and the Inga language) is an immersive work, which is both a ceremony and an audio documentary, an 85-minute journey where five languages coexist: Spanish, French, English, Anishnabemowin and Inga. After Montreal, the Onishka Productions show will be at the Edinburgh International Festival, from August 15 to 18, then will tour South America.
On the back of a turtle
A central figure in many indigenous cosmogonies, connected to the lunar cycle and the feminine dimension of life, as much to water as to the earth and the stars, the turtle is at the heart of Nigamon/Tunai. In the Amazon, the animal is in danger of extinction due to global warming and human activities. “In the mythology of the Inga people,” explains Waira Nina, “the turtle is the mother of all waters. Once a year, she sacrifices herself to offer her song, a song that protects water, the source of all life. » Among the Anishinaabe, the shell of the snapping turtle is used in particular for ceremonies and crafts. “For the indigenous peoples of northeastern Canada and the Prairies,” says Émilie Monnet, “the Earth was created on the back of a turtle. »
The two women therefore quite naturally chose the turtle as a symbol of their fight for the protection of waters and against the extractivism taking place in their respective territories. “We are mainly dealing with the presence of the mining company Libero Copper, known in Colombia as Libero Cobre,” explains Monnet. To facilitate the extraction of copper there, an operation which has terrible impacts, the Canadian multinational wants to build a road which would cross the territory of Waira’s uncle. »
To address these political and environmental questions, the creators have imagined a poetic manifesto that gives pride of place to sounds and voices. “It’s like an immersive podcast,” explains Monnet. We hope to encourage deep listening among people, to make voices that are otherwise inaudible heard, points of view that we too rarely take the time to make known. To achieve this, we conducted interviews with resistance fighters, Indigenous people who are dedicated to defending the territories. »
At the heart of a sound and visual environment imagined by a rich team of creators, including Mélanie O’Bomsawin (video), Julie-Christina Picher (scenography), Leonel Vásquez (sound scenography) and Frannie Holder (music) , the two performers will focus on their voices, their breaths, their bodies. “We use our voices to create harmonies with the song of trees, stones and water,” explains Monnet. We relate to the territory by using the sounds, syllables, words and sentences of our respective indigenous languages. »
Earth
Alongside the performances, four conferences will be held at Espace Go on May 27 and 28. Titles Aki/Alpa (“the land” in Anishinaabemowin and Inga), these exchanges will bring together guardians of indigenous territories, spiritual leaders, community leaders as well as artists from South and North America. According to Waira Nina, “it is urgent to talk about the impact of extractivism on the territories and on the beings who live there, but also about all the initiatives which aim to defend these territories”. Among the guests: healer Luciano Mutumbajoy, who will address the “increasingly aggressive” presence of Libero Cobre on his family’s land and the murders of indigenous leaders.
With Nigamon/TunaiÉmilie Monnet adds a new chapter to her cycle on love begun with Neecheemus last year. “It’s a show about love and friendship,” she explains. I see love and friendship as forms of resistance and solidarity. Waira is my friend and it upsets me to know that her family was murdered because they were defending the territory. This is all very concrete, very real. We are very happy to have electric cars or to switch to wind energy, which requires a lot of copper, but we must know what this means for indigenous populations. »
Faced with the current flourishing of indigenous theater in Quebec, Émilie Monnet does not hide her joy. “I am very happy to see that there is more and more space for indigenous voices and structures. I am thinking in particular of the creations of the Menuentakuan company and those of Soleil Launière. Next November, with Laure Morali and Joséphine Bacon, I will take part in the theatrical creation of Kukum at the TNM. Ten years ago, we could never have imagined such a thing. »