The silver wave
Talks & Seminars

In conversation with artist Michelle Williams Gamaker

Join mov­ing image and per­for­mance artist Michelle Williams Gamak­er in con­ver­sa­tion with RAMM’s Cura­tor of Ethnog­ra­phy and Car­rie Aya­gaduk Ojanen.

They will be discussing Michelle’s work ‘The Silver Wave’, commissioned by RAMM. Inspired by objects from the Arctic region in RAMM’s collection, ‘The Silver Wave’ tells the story of Ada Blackjack, an Iñupiat woman from Nome, Alaska, who became the sole survivor of a doomed expedition to Russia’s Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean.

Michelle Williams Gamaker says of The Silver Wave, ‘Ada’s story is one of survival at all costs. Accompanying the explorers to Wrangel Island went against her better judgement, but she needed money to care for her son Bennet. It is clear in later interviews that the events that took place on the island were very traumatic to remember. Working with a selection of artefacts from RAMM’s collection I take them on a journey to tell Ada’s untold story…’

The evening will be chaired by RAMM’s Contemporary Art Curator Lara Goodband and promises to be a thought-provoking experience as you learn more about this fascinating journey.