Tenille Campbell, an award-winning poet and photographer from English River First Nation has been selected as the next Indigenous Storyteller-In-Residence.
The residency begins in January and will run for 12 weeks with Campbell providing her services at the university.
“I’m incredibly excited to be working on campus with community, and to see where these next few months takes us,” said Campbell. “I’m still fine tuning the overarching art plan, but I’m currently being inspired by Polaroids, acts of friendships, and beadwork.”
As a part of Campbell’s residency, she plans to focus on the themes of friendship and joy, through workshops on beading, photo portraits and self-love poetry.
Campbell also says she hopes to bring a Dene perspective to the role.
“Wether it be a bead work style, a way of phrasing, bring in Dene Syllabics into my work,” she told MBC Radio News. “It’s more about embracing the unknown and what does that look like as an art piece.”
Campbell’s residency will culminate in a celebratory exhibit of all the works created during her residency for the university’s Indigenous Achievement Week in March.
The university is also partnering with the Saskatoon Public Library to feature some of Campbell’s workshops and bring her storytelling to a wider audience.
Campbell currently resides in Saskatoon and is pursuing her doctorate in English at USask.
(Photo provided)