Please note: This lecture will be held in person in room 1010, Weiser Hall, and virtually on Zoom. If you would like to attend via Zoom, registration is required. Once you've registered, joining information will be sent to your email. Register for the Zoom webinar at: https://myumi.ch/pg7N9.

This lecture-performance introduces Ainu culture through the living traditions of art, song, and dance. Participants will learn how Ainu art-making is rooted in community, intergenerational knowledge, and relationships with the natural world, offering a perspective that differs from conventional notions of individual artistic practice. The session concludes with an interactive performance, inviting the audience to experience Ainu culture through shared movement, music, and dialogue.

Kanako Uzawa is an Ainu multidisciplinary artist, scholar, and curator whose work bridges artistic practice, academic research, and community engagement. Originally from Japan and based in Norway, she holds a Ph.D. in community planning and cultural understanding from UiT – The Arctic University of Norway, where her research explored urban Indigenous identity and contemporary Ainu perspectives. Uzawa works across contemporary dance, film, animation, installation, and socially engaged art, and her work has been exhibited and performed internationally. She is currently an invited faculty member at Hokkaido University, an affiliated researcher at the University of Oslo, and a guest curator at the University of Michigan Museum of Art and the Józef Piłsudski Museum. Across her research, exhibitions, performances, and collaborations, Uzawa works to create spaces where Indigenous knowledge, contemporary art, and lived experience meet, fostering dialogue across cultures and generations.

Photo credit: Susan Dine

If there is anything we can do to make this event accessible to you, please contact us. Please be aware that advance notice is necessary as some accommodations may require more time for the university to arrange.