Indigenous filmmakers and artists celebrate cultural continuity in major international exhibitions

Contemporary Indigenous storytelling is taking centre stage as high-profile projects from filmmaker Sky Hopinka and artists Rebecca and Kenny Alvin Baird gain international attention. According to ICT, Hopinka, who is Ho-Chunk and a member of the Pechanga Band of Luiseño Indians, is touring his latest documentary, "Powwow People." The film, which premiered at the 2025 Toronto International Film Festival, offers an immersive look at the rhythms and relationships of the powwow circuit. In a unique approach to the medium, Hopinka organised the powwow specifically for the production, inviting dancers, singers, and vendors to participate in the filmmaking process. The documentary follows four specific figures: an organiser, an emcee, a non-binary dancer navigating tradition, and a modern singer. Hopinka stated that the project was designed to resist "extractive" storytelling, instead narrowing the focus to personal and community-driven experiences of cultural continuity. Meanwhile, in Toronto, Canada, Cree Métis siblings Rebecca Baird and Kenny Alvin Baird have launched a retrospective titled "Returning to Ourselves" at the Onsite Gallery. The exhibition, which runs through to 30 January 2027, spans 45 years of work, including sculpture, painting, and public art. The siblings draw deeply from their lineage; their grandmother, Victoria Belcourt Callihoo, was a renowned Métis historian who famously harboured Sitting Bull in 1877. Kenny Alvin Baird described the collaboration as a way to realise how their creative work — ranging from beadwork and sweetgrass patterns to glass feathers and pop culture references — has grounded them spiritually. The exhibit highlights how Indigenous heritage can be woven into diverse forms of expression, from historical murals to the pioneering interior designs Kenny created for New York nightclubs in the 1980s.