January 12th – April 9, 2022
Legacy Downtown Sidewalk Gallery
630 Yates Street
Lekwungen territory
Tuesday – Saturday, 4:30pm – 10:00pm
Located outside on Broad Street side of Legacy Downtown
Documentary short by filmmaker Asia Youngman
All across Canada, Indigenous artists are reawakening both traditional and contemporary tattoo practices as a way to reclaim their cultures and identities. Asia Youngman’s documentary short This Ink Runs Deep explores the revival of cultural tattooing.
While attending a film festival in 2018, I had the honour of receiving a tā moko in New Zealand from artist Tipi Wehipeihana, which is the traditional style of tattooing for the Māori people. When I had the opportunity later that same year to direct a documentary on traditional Indigenous tattoo practices in Canada, I realized that I had minimal knowledge about this art form that our people were doing right here on Turtle Island. Throughout the production process, I was privileged to meet some of the artists who were passionately working to revive these practices that had been taken away due to colonization. – Asia Youngman
This Ink Runs Deep is about more than just tattooing. It’s a celebration of the growing pride that is happening across Turtle Island as we revive different aspects of our culture and reconnect to our ancestral teachings. While growing up, I struggled with acknowledging my own identity as a Cree-Métis woman. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenties when I started to learn more about my culture and became more grounded in my identity. I understood what it was like to have a fractured identity and feel that disconnect, especially as a youth. With that in mind, it was essential that this film also emphasized the importance of sharing these teachings with the next generation.
I’m deeply grateful to Nakkita Trimble, Dion Kaszas, Jana Angulalik, Audie Murray, Kwiaahwah Jones, and Gregory Williams for sharing your time, your teachings and your stories. Each of these artists brought something unique to this documentary, whether it was their particular style of tattooing or their personal journeys. When I reflect on the process of making this film, I am warmly reminded of how our team was welcomed into the lives and homes of these incredible artists who continue to inspire me every day. kinanâskomitin.
This Ink Runs Deep was on view in Legacy’s sidewalk gallery space along Broad Street and can also be viewed on the CBC network’s YouTube channel.
Related Programming
Asia Youngman Screening with Q&A
Feb 12, 2022 | 6 – 7:30PM
UVic Legacy Art Gallery Downtown | 630 Yates St.
Join us for an evening with Cree-Métis filmmaker, Asia Youngman. We will host a screening of Asia Youngman’s film This Ink Runs Deep, a documentary short about the revival of cultural tattooing, and nx̌aʔx̌ʔitkʷ (na-haha-eet-ku), a narrative short about a teenager who must navigate peer pressure when her next door neighbour convinces her to explore a nearby island in search of a legendary lake monster.
A Q&A session with Asia will follow each film.