So Surreal: Behind the Masks

“From 1885 to 1951, the Indigenous potlatch ceremony was banned under Canadian law. Anyone who defied the ban was arrested, and masks and ceremonial objects were confiscated. The Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw Nation has made it its mission to track down these sacred objects. In some cases, the masks traveled across the country and eventually to Europe, where they found their way into museums and private art collections and into the hands of Surrealists such as Max Ernst, André Breton, and Joan Miró.

So Surreal: Behind the Masks traces the fascinating fusion of Yup’ik sensibility with the Western avant-garde movement and highlights the enormous influence of Indigenous art … The highly entertaining film by Neil Diamond (Reel Injun, 2009) and Joanne Robertson is part crime thriller, part art documentary. «

(International Film Festival of Ottawa).

• Admission and participation are free
• No registration required