Doors 7:30 pm, Show 8 pm

Cheryl L’Hirondelle / Why The Caged Bird Sings — Immersive Engagements
March 14 – April 17, 2025
Curated by Judy McNaughton
Co-presented by Common Weal Community Arts and PAVED Arts
Watch the artist talk here: https://www.youtube.com/live/BxmIjsv8QCg

The final evening of the exhibition will host a concert with several well-known and versatile Saskatchewan musicians, performing the original songs from the project with L’Hirondelle. Including Sask Music Award-winning recording artist Berk Jodoin, Berk Jodoin, Aspen Beveridge, Helen Pridmore, Joseph Naytowhow, Kurtis Kopp, Lily Naytowhow, Romeo Klyne, Ross Nykifouk, and Stacey Springall, with special guest Eekwol.

Why the Caged Bird Sings—Immersive Engagements is a solo touring exhibition by Saskatchewan-based and Indigenous interdisciplinary artist and singer/songwriter Cheryl L’Hirondelle. The works in the exhibition are media and sensory-rich transmissions using virtual reality (VR), video, hyper-directional audio and the olfactory that forge immersive experiences featuring the lyrics, voices and musical arrangements that resulted from the artist’s decades-long commitment to engaging in collaborative songwriting processes with incarcerated and detained populations in Saskatchewan. Included in the exhibition are nine original drawings from several of the participants and a listening station to hear all nine songs from the project. Additionally, karaoke versions of the songs are screened in the street-facing window gallery for the duration of the exhibition. Immersive Engagements is curated by Common Weal Community Arts Northern Artistic Director Judy McNaughton who worked with the artist, beginning in 2008, to deliver the song-writing workshops.