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ISEA &
FOCUS QUÉBEC 2025
Friday, May 23 to Thursday, May 29
10am to 7pm
Closed Monday, May 26
Seoul Arts Center
Seoul Calligraphy Art Museum
Celestial Tree (Virtual Sculpture) is an instance of the Celestial Tree that figures prominently in Skawennati's machinima, She Falls for Ages (2017), a sci-fi feminist retelling of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) creation story. Skawennati imagined the setting of the story, Skyworld, as an ancient, alien planet populated by a technologically sophisticated people whose culture centers on the care and reverence for the beautiful, energy-producing Celestial Tree that they had developed over thousands of years of careful cultivation. The idea and image of the Celestial Tree are well-known to Haudenosaunee people.
Skawennati
Skawennati makes art that addresses history, the future, and change from an Indigenous perspective. Well known for her machinimas – movies made in virtual environments – she also produces still images, sculpture and textile works. Her pioneering new media projects include the online gallery/chat-space and mixed-reality event, CyberPowWow (1997-2004); a paper doll/time-travel journal, Imagining Indians in the 25th Century (2001); and the machinimas TimeTravellerTM (2007-2013), She Falls For Ages (2017) and The Peacemaker Returns (2017). These have been widely presented in major exhibitions across the globe, including “Uchronia | What If ?”, in the HyperPavilion at the 57th Venice Biennale; “On Desire” B3 Biennale of the Moving Image, Frankfurt, Germany; “Now? Now!” at the Biennale of the Americas; “Looking Forward (L’Avenir)” at the Montreal Biennale; and “Changing Hands: Art Without Reservation 3” at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City. Her award-winning work in is included in both public and private collections.