Landspeak Conference 2021

Date: Wed, 17. Mar, 2021 · 10:00am

With:

The Landspeak Conference 2021 was a series of free online talks, workshops, events, and activities, seeking to build connections between Turtle Island and Ireland through explorations in culture, sport, creativity, language, and the environment.

Landspeak brought together singers and storytellers, filmmakers and musicians, athletes and academics, online, from March 17–20, 2021.

Based on the idea of two lands speaking to each other, and resonating with Jeanette Armstrong’s concept of “Land Speaking,” this gathering provided a space for learning and building lasting relationships between the people of Ireland and the Indigenous peoples from different nations and territories of Turtle Island.

Landspeak was presented by the ICUF, in partnership with the Centre for Creative Writing and Oral Culture in the University of Manitoba, the Centre for Canadian Studies in University College Dublin, and the Craig Dobbin Visiting Professor, University College Dublin.

Overview

Indigenous languages, story, and song come from the land, and connect Indigenous people to their cultures and to each other. By protecting and promoting their languages, Indigenous communities affirm the sovereignty denied under settler colonialism. Thus, the gathering acknowledged how the history of Indigenous dispossession and the Irish diaspora are entangled within the settlement of what is now Canada, while learning from the experience of colonization and decolonization on the island of Ireland and across North America, such as the revival of language and culture in Ireland and Indigenous nations. In word, song, and image, Landspeak was a space where Indigenous and Irish voices are heard.

Events

All events that were part of the Landspeak Conference 2021:

Day 1, March 17, 2021:

Day 2, March 18, 2021:

Day 3, March 19, 2021:

Day 4, March 20, 2021:

Landspeak was organised with the assistance of the Government of Canada/Landspeak a été organisé avec l’appui du gouvernement du Canada. The ICUF is supported by the Government of Ireland, through the Emigrant Support Programme of the Department of Foreign Affairs.