christopher columbus is the symbol of colonization and oppression, reflected in all the struggles affecting Indigenous peoples across the globe today. Whether it’s the mining company seeking to destroy sacred sites like Oak Flats, Black Mesa, or Standing Rock, or the globalist corporations polluting water and food sources like El Río Yaqui, or the militarization of the US/Mexico Border in this post-Trump world, it is all part of the colonial history of these United States.
Fifth World Collective
Shooting Columbus (SHOCO)
SHOCO was an immersive site-specific performance of theater, movement, soundscapes, and video projection that re-imagined history and memory. Written and performed by the Fifth World Collective, a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous artists residing on Tohono O’Odham and the Yaqui (Yoeme) lands.
For over three years, the Fifth World Collective researched issues affecting Indigenous communities in the Southwest and beyond. We interviewed members from the Tohono O’Odham, Yaqui (Yoeme), Hopi, and Navajo (Diné) nations. Ceremony, initiation, protests, and social events were intrinsically linked and the knowledge of elders from all these places helped construct the ideas surrounding this show.
This work is an attempt to retroactively enchant the colonial narrative. Through poetic imaginings of a radically different past to foster dialogue about a radically different future, the work examines the continued resistance and resilience of Indigenous people and their oppression by the settler state.
This work was informed by interviews with Marie Gladue, Fern Benally, Ross Canyon, Rosemary Tona-Aguirre, Alex Soto, and Tygel Pinto; collaboration with Klee Benally; and community.
The Fifth World Collective
Lead Artists
Adam Cooper-Teran, Yaqui / Chicano
t loving, Black / Cherokee
Ryan Pinto, Hopi /Omaha /Dine/Northern Ute
Denise Uyehara, Okinawan // Japanese American
Rachel Bowditch, European American
Performance Ensemble
Gertie Lopez, Tohono O’Odham
Matthew Saraficio
Julianna Grantham
Tessai Velasquez-Thurma
Sara Haro
Brett Boyce
Technical
Adam Cooper-Teran, Sound/Video/Media
Andy Gonzalez, Stage Manager
Genevieve Heron, Set
Greg Houston, Lighting
Ivy Wahome, Wadrobe
GALLERY – Photo Credit: Julius Schlosburg
Art is Medicine and can be a way to heal from historical trauma. Art can also be the catalyst to dream up another reality, to sew the seeds for creating a new world–an alternate future. – Fifth World Collective
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