DISRUPTIVE FLOW
Photo: Alejandra Rubio
Disruptive Flow captures the essence of being an indigenous person throughout history. Being indigenous was and still is a disruption to our own government, so here we would like to use that and the fact the Everglades is itself being disrupted. Voices is standing up and showing the world what kind of disruptions they are dismissing.
Disruptive Flow gathers the voices of 11 artists that are showcasing reproductions of their artworks in a non standard platform. You will see objects like fishing poles and other natural elements used fro the installation of the artworks. The fishing poles itself is catching art in Nature all while stating the impact the fishing industry is having in our health and environment. Just here in the Everglades the finishing lines left in the waters, tangled in our fishes are creating a concern in our Everglades homeland.
The artist participating in this Pop-Up, are all indigenous ancestry, their artworks and photographies invite us to participate and live the different cultural backgrounds that define them. They are expressions of ideas and also social statements of what is happening around us. You will find environmental, health, social, and humanitarian topics like the MMIW, Missing Murdered Indigenous Women, Defend the Sacred and indigenous Peoples Movement.
ARTISTS
These pictures allow me to express my love and gratitude for my home, the Everglades, and the outdoors/nature. The Everglades was seen as unlivable and ugly when my people sought this land to survive. These pictures were taken during my time at the NatGeo photo camp in Venus, Florida.
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Aaliyah Johnson is 15 years old and an enrolled citizen of the Alabama-Coushatta Tribe of Texas. She’s photographed various powwows and events for several years. She’s a monthly contributor to Native Hoop Magazine and has been featured in PBS American Portrait.
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My world name is Cayla Willie, I was born as a female to a class still not seen as a person. I have a family of my own. I as someone who felt as if they were born to create for this world have done so most of my life. I learned so much so I could create on my own for others and share a piece of me. I have created life for my future, I can create necessary tools and items, I have created a way for me to keep my ancestors alive within my everyday living. I am a big sis, little sis, lover and a mother…
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Daniel Tommie is a seminole artists specialized in the art of dugout canoe. He worked at the Ah-Tah-Thi-Ki Museum as a traditional interpretive coordinator. He has been a spokesmen and educator of the Seminole culture.
“As a young boy I was told to start out small and simple when engaging in art or craft. I have learned invaluable methods, techniques, and approaches in carving a dugout canoe using this concept.
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Amaris Cruz-Guerrero is a Nicaraguan-Puerto Rican multidisciplinary artist, cook, and educator that lives and works in Miami, Florida.
Cruz-Guerrero draws her artistic practice around her ecological, domestic and ancestral landscape. Her work engages with stories, mysticism, folklore, and the “in-betweenness” or la tierra entre medio, of her heritage. She describes this concept as nepantla, a Nahuatl word which means “in the middle of it”.
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Artist, activist, poet, and ordained minister Reverend Houston Cypress is the founder of Love the Everglades, an organization devoted to the development of platforms and initiatives for environmental protection and cultural preservation.
Cypress is also an advocate for two-spirited and non-binary gender peoples, cultural preservation, business development, and sovereignty.
Cypress is a active member of the artistic community of Miami, he acts as a cultural ambassador of native clans and the community.
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I am an independent Native American and African American Artist. Independent meaning I am not affiliated with any tribes, my family as well. I became exposed to art by seeing my late mom always drawing and occasionally creating things like centerpieces for family functions and sewing various outfits for me to wear. She was my inspiration to be open to making my own art, but I didn’t realize it when I was younger.
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Paulino Mejia is a 26 year old multi-media artist born and raised in South Florida. They have spent their life making art inspired by their ancestry and the world around them. They’re of Maya Ch’ort’i and Cuban descent. They’re main medium is ceramic and beadwork, but they also focus on painting and textiles. Their mission with art is to continue the sacred cycles of artistic creation that Mayas have upheld for thousands of years.
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«When the sun goes down, God! My heart aches, my heart aches. When the sun goes down, my heart, my heart is dying. Sun! Sun!»
— Ancient Nawat Song
Land Acknowledgement: I am honored and privileged to be able to live and work on lands that have been cared for by many indigenous communities of the past, present, and future — including the Council of the Original Miccosukee Simanolee Nation Aboriginal Peoples, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida.
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I grew up seeing photos and drawings of Indigenous people by non-Indigenous people. I wasn’t really cool with that, so i started making my own. The work i create centers around who i am and the things i experience as a Two-Spirit person. I don’t have methods or techniques, just make sure it’s in focus and finish what you started.
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This one day exhibit started at the Tigertail Airboats where the visitors would first listen to some powerful words of Miccosukee activist and ecological advocate Betty Osceola and then the visitors will take an air-boat tour to a tree-island, known as the hammocks to see the artworks of the participating artists.
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