Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing: Ways of Being and Seeing (TES) is a collaborative process-based project led by Lara Aysal (Core Artist) and Rosemary Georgeson (Coast Salish/Sahtu Dene storyteller). TES focuses on bringing together Indigenous Knowledge Holders to create space for stories on moving forward in the era of ecological destruction, climate crisis, decolonization and collaboration between various knowledge systems.
Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing is a concept created by a leading environmental voice in Unama’ki Cape Breton, Mi’kmaq Elder Advisor Albert Marshall. He describes Etuaptmumk as “learning to see from one eye with the strengths of Indigenous knowledge and ways of knowing, and from the other eye with the strengths of Western knowledge and ways of knowing … and learning to use both these eyes together, for the benefit of all”.
With the guiding principles of Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing, Lara and Rosemary collaborate with Knowledge Holders, artists, activists, and youth to creatively respond to questions about how the elements of Mother Earth speak to us. How it was it? How it is it, and how do we hope Mother Earth to be? The responses to these questions can be found in discussion circles with Knowledge Holders, creative workshops with the public, and performative co-creation of stories, comic apps, video series, and multimedia installations.
Lara Aysal 