You’re Invited: July 26th OR July 28th, 2:00-5:00 pm EST

Image-based storytelling: Creating a Visual Narrative of the Self

Date: July 26th, 2017 OR July 28th, 2017

Time: 2:00 pm – 5:00pm

Location: 209 Victoria Street, room 241, venue is wheelchair accessible

Speaker and facilitator: Lisa Boivin

Details: This workshop is free and art supplies are provided.

To register: This workshop is open to people working at St. Michael’s Hospital. Some spots are also available for those doing frontline work related to health and wellness. To register, please email centrelist@smh.ca, and indicate whether you choose the July 26th or July 28th workshop.

Workshop description: In this three-hour workshop, Lisa will offer a visual perspective by situating Indigenous experience and knowledge in her paintings. Her images dismantle the clinical/colonial boundaries that isolate Indigenous peoples in and from bio-scientific medicine and bestow teachings that lead to culturally safe solutions. Participants will also have the opportunity create their own images to reflect on their own work in health care.

Background: Understanding the lingering injuries of Indian Residential Schools and acknowledging the existence of colonialism are integral to the development of culturally safe health care. Medical treatment is often perceived as a counter-narrative to Indigenous wellness. This is reinforced by centuries of colonial thought, diagnosis and practice. As a result, Indigenous patients are vulnerable in all clinical settings.

Speaker bio: Lisa Boivin is a member of the Deninu Kue First Nation in Northwest Territories. She is an interdisciplinary artist and a M.Sc. student at the Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine. Lisa uses image-based storytelling to bridge gaps between bioethics and aspects of Indigenous cultures and worldviews as she situates her art in the continuum of passing knowledge through images.

Download event poster here.

Watch Lisa Boivin’s Tedx Talk here.