Savage Society, Mana Taketake, Wild Salmon Caravan join 24 Indigenous musical artists at FREE Feast of Contemporary Indigenous Music and Culture in Lytton

June 11, ’Q’emcín (aka Lytton BC): In its second year ’Q’emcin 2 Rivers Remix (2RMX) will be showcasing 24 contemporary Indigenous musical artists – including four JUNO-winners – Saturday, July 6 and Sunday, July 7, on Nlaka’pamux Unceded Territory.

Artistic Director Meeka Morgan (Secwepemc/Nuu-Chah-Nulth/Nlaka’pamux) today announced three Special Guest Artists who will also be at 2RMX in 2019: Savage Society, Mana Taketake, and Wild Salmon Caravan.

The Savage Society and its Artistic Director Kevin Loring (Nlaka’pamux), will open 2RMX with a community production of the play, “Battle of the Birds”, at 11am on Saturday July 6 (at Fraser and 6th Street). Kevin is an award-winning actor, playwright and producer, and the first Artistic Director for Indigenous Theatre at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa. The Savage Society’s mandate is to tell Indigenous stories using contemporary mediums.

“Battle of the Birds” is based on a traditional Nlaka’pamux story about a community confronting the issue of domestic violence, set in the mythical time before time, when animals appeared like humans with animal attributes and spoke a similar language.

Special Guests on tour from Aotearoa, Mana Taketake, a contemporary Maori performance group (photo above), will share their vision of Maori dance, music and weaponry. Mana Taketake will perform and give workshops both Saturday and Sunday– including Haka movement, traditional Maori games, and a flavour of the Maori language.

Meeka noted that the Wild Salmon Caravan (WSC) will collaborate with the Nlaka’pamux Nation to open the second day of the feast on Sunday July 7 at noon with a Wild Salmon celebration and parade (at Fraser & 6th Street). WSC will also be hosting interactive Salmon Art workshops at the festival on Saturday July 6. All are welcome to create, honour and explore wild salmon traditional knowledge and their creative energy of transformation.

The musical feast will showcase a diverse range of 24 contemporary Indigenous artists from hip-hop to folk, metal to blues, Indigifunk to electronic, rock to reggae. “More than half the lead performers are women, one-third are youth, while three artists are Two-Spirited,” said Meeka. The festival also features spoken word, dance, video screenings, interactive workshops with festival artists, and a large-scale outdoor Indigenous art exhibition.

Be sure to put the July 6-7 weekend on your summer calendar. All are welcome! All ages! Best of all, this fabulous festival is FREE!!

A 2RMX youtube playlist of the festival artists is at playlist.2rmx.ca and browse our website for more info about the artists at 2RiversRemix.ca.

What: ’Q’emcin 2 Rivers Remix, Free 2-day Contemporary Indigenous Music Feast
When: Saturday July 6 to Sunday July 7, 2019 1pm–11pm daily
Who: 24 Contemporary Indigenous Musical Artists performing a wide variety of genres
Where: 4th Street at Main in ’Q’emcín/Lytton BC – located on Nlaka’pamux unceded territory at the confluence of
the “Fraser” and “Thomson” rivers, 10km from Stein Valley Nlaka’pamux Heritage Park
How: 3 hours by car from Vancouver or 2 hours from Kamloops on Highway 1

Web: 2RiversRemix.ca • Facebook: event.2rmx.ca • YouTube Playlist: playlist.2rmx.ca