Another Amerika + Dialogue 21

Opening: May 6th, 2011

Date: May 6th – June 2nd, 2011

Ken Marchionno in conjunction with Dialogue21

The exhibition Dialog 21 was enhanced by the art of a significant American photographer. The opening was planned the same day when Horažďovice celebrated the anniversary of the Liberation by the US Army.
 

Three Hundred Miles

The Oomaka Tokatakiya (Future Generations) Ride

Ken Marchionno ǀ Tatanka Cante’ Hokshila Hill ǀ Joshua Halle ǀ Sandy Frank ǀ Ica Ducheneaux ǀ Joseph Looking Horse

In 2004 Ken Marchionno was invited by members of the Lakota Indian Nation to photograph the Oomaka Tokotakiya, Future Generations Ride. The ride is nearly three hundred miles by horseback across South Dakota, and takes place every December.

Originally meant as a memorial for those who died at the Wounded Knee Massacre, the ride continues as a contemporary expression of American Indian practice and offers participants an embodied experience of traditional Lakota culture. The ride is a source of empowerment for anyone who participates, but especially for Lakota youth, and is meant to foster pride and leadership qualities in the next generation of tribal leaders.

In 2006, urged on by a local youth organizer, Ken started the Future Generations Teen Photojournalism Project to teach photography to high school students from Lakota Indian Reservations. Together they have produced an extensive archive of this modern tradition.

Participants in the Exhibition:

  • Ken Marchionno is the curator/producer of the exhibition and the director of the Future Generations Teen Photojournalism Project. Ken is an artist, writer, and educator who resides in Los Angeles, California. His work has been shown in exhibitions and festivals throughout the USA, Asia, Europe, and South America. His writings have been featured in literary and art magazines. And he has taught photography, digital media, theory, and media studies in the US and abroad since 1996.
  • Tatanka Cante’ Hokshila Hill (Buffalo Heart Boy), 2006 Project alum, is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He is currently in the 9th grade at Wakpala High School on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, where he is a member of the 21st Century Dance and Drum Group.
  • Sandy Frank, 2007 Project alum, grew up on the Standing Rock and Cheyenne River Indian Reservations. Her father is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe; her enrolment is still pending. Her photographs of the ride have run in two South Dakota newspapers, the Isabel Dakotan, and the Timber Lake Topic.
  • Joshua Hale, 2007 Project alum, is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and resides with his family in Cherry Creek, on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.
  • Ica Ducheneaux, 2008 Project alum, is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and resides with his family in Eagle Butte, on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation. Ica has won awards for his artwork, and his photographs of the ride and an eagle rescue have run in the Eagle Butte newspaper, the West River Eagle.
  • Joseph Looking Horse, 2008 Project alum, is an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and lives in Eagle Butte, on the Cheyenne River Indian Reservation.

The exhibition opening will be followed by American Center Talk on May 4, 2011. Ken Marchionno will show his images of the Oomaka Tokatakiya, Future Generations Ride as well as those taken by students of the Teen Photojournalism Project between 2004 and 2009. Ken will discuss the generation of the project and its relation to the ride. Alumni from the Future Generations Teen Photojournalism Project Tatanka Cante’ Hokshila Hill and Sandy Frank will be on hand for questions after the talk together with two other members of Sioux tribe.

  • Sinte Ska (White Tail) whose English name is Ramey Christopher Hill, is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. At the age of seven, he became the youngest rider ever to complete the 300-mile Future Generations Ride. Ramey has completed this ride every year since. He is a member of the Spirit Riders Youth Horseback Club, a group that supports and attends the various memorial and spiritual rides that occur throughout the year. He is currently a senior at Wakpala High School on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation.Sinte Ska will address some of the issues faced by youth growing up and living on the Reservation. He will present his perspective on the ride, his membership in the Spirit Riders Youth Horseback Club, and their effect on him growing up on the Standing Rock Reservation.
  • Manaja Unjinca Hill (Bobtail Tiger) is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. Manaja comes from the Bobtail Tiger Tiospaye (extended family) who lived along the banks of the Missouri River in the Mato Chanzaka (Mad Bear) Camp. Manaja served in the military and has a degree in Business Administration from Northern State College. He has held positions with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Indian Health Service, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and other tribal organizations.Manaja will focus on family life on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation and discuss traditional Lakota ways, from both a historical perspective and the present. He will give an adult/mentor perspective on the formation and activities of the Spirit Riders Youth Horseback Club and discuss the relationship between youth and horses and the positive outcomes of these relationships.

 

The exhibition will then continue in the American Center in Prague, beginning by June 16th, 2011.

 

Photogalleries

Califia opening                                      Art                                         American Center, Prague