Third Edition returns June 9-12, 2022 with Runway Presentations from Indi City, Amy Malbeuf, Lesley Hampton, EMME Studio, D’arcy Moses, Maru Creations, Section 35, Arctic Luxe, Evan Ducharme
Indigenous Fashion Arts (formerly Indigenous Fashion Week Toronto) is pleased to announce this year’s runway programming under its new name, with its website launch today at indigenousfashionarts.com. The biennial Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival will take place June 9-12, 2022, at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto, Ontario.
The Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival offers ticketed and free programming, including four theatrically-produced runway shows with 25 designers, a marketplace with over 60 exhibitors, plus academic-focused panels and hands-on workshops open to the public. The IFA Festival will also present free Digital & On-Demand content during the festival dates and throughout the year, including live-streamed runways and panels, available at indigenousfashionarts.com.
“We are thrilled to be back in-person and welcoming audiences to the third biennial IFA Festival!” says Executive & Artistic Director Sage Paul. “Our curated programming represents diverse Indigenous expression in fashion from across Canada and internationally. This year’s theme, Walking With Light recognizes the relational undercurrents of the visionaries, stewards, knowledge keepers and connectors we value in our community. The theme materialized from the runway designers’ collections and artist statements and is further developed by storytelling of sky world with Grandmother Pauline & Luanna Shirt with their friend Joseph Sutherland and his mother, Mary Moose. We look truly forward to walking this fashion journey with you.”
The Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival Runways will include four shows with 25 designers, curated by Wanda Nanibush (Anishinaabe and Indigenous Art Curator, Art Gallery of Ontario), Melanie Egan (Director, Craft & Design, Harbourfront Centre) and Sage Paul (Denesuline and Executive & Artistic Director, IFA).
Opening the Festival is Eternal Imaginaries on June 9. The showbrings together a diverse group of artists and designers who assert visionary, queer Indigenous world views through fine craftsmanship, clever patternmaking and bold materials. Eternal Imaginaries features Amy Malbeuf, Evan Ducharme, Robyn McLeod, Michel Dumont, Indi City, and Curtis Oland.
Sovereign Matriarchson June 10 features a multigenerational group of designers and celebrates the legacy and stewardship of our matriarchs’ labour and teachings through tradition, material and motif. Featuring qaulluq, Niio Perkins Designs, Swirling Wind Designs, Celeste Pedri-Spade, Lesley Hampton, and EMME Studio (USA).
Time Weavers on June 11 brings together an exquisitely skilled Canadian and international group of artists and designers who harness and sustain generations of knowledge. The practices in trapping and fur design, weaving and material culture methods in this show feature Janelle Wawia, Livia Manywounds, Maru Creations (New Zealand), MAWO (Argentina), Ix Balam, Kadusné (USA), and D’arcy Moses.
The closing night show, A Letter From Home on June 12, is an enveloping memory of “home.” This show celebrates family and place, featuring a broad group of designers who create ready-to-wear fashion and jewellery. Their collections connect wearers to the land and their relatives through modern utilitarian Indigenous design, featuring Margaret Jacobs (USA), Anne Mulaire, BIBI CHEMNITZ (Greenland), M.O.B.I.L.I.Z.E, Arctic Luxe (USA), and Section 35.
In addition, an IFA Video Collection accompanies the runway shows. Exclusively online, this program features short videos shot and directed by each runway designer using the new Apple iPhone 13 Pro. IFA will broadcast each video online before each designer’s show, viewable through IFA social media and website. The videos are edited and produced by the IFA team, under the consultation of director Shane Belcourt (Métis), with a music score by composer and musician Cris Derksen (Cree).
Indigenous Fashion Arts sustains Indigenous practices in fashion, craft and textiles through designer-focused initiatives, public engagement and sector innovation. Their primary activity is the biennial Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival. IFA’s programming and initiatives illuminate and celebrate Indigenous people and cultures.
With a commitment to Indigenous women, non-binary and trans people in leadership, IFA strives to nurture the deep connections between mainstream fashion, Indigenous art and traditional practice with amplified visibility.
Indigenous Fashion Arts Festival
June 9-12, 2022
Harbourfront Centre
235 Queens Quay West in Toronto, Ontario
Tickets On Sale Now
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