Embrace the Radical. Give breath to your imagination.

A whole story begins with one word. Words are the roots that bear the fruit of deeper meaning, messages and significance. Our Indigenous languages are embedded with such deep meaning-conveyed through each word. As Indigenous people, we share another common, yet foreign language. It too has its own way of conveying meaning and its own roots. ‘Radical’ may mean many things to many people, but its essence and its core requires us to get to the root of things. We’re now calling on those committed to getting to the root of things. To embrace the radical and give breath to your imagination.

Intent

As part of NDN Collective’s mission to Defend, Develop and Decolonize, Radical Imagination Artists and Culture Bearers will:

Practice

Imagine and practice justice within their communities while working to rebuild and assemble a better world

Amplify

Amplify community voices to counter inequitable systems, policies and practices

Propose

Propose solutions to dismantle structural racism through their art & creativity

Through artistic creativity, the hearts and minds of each artist will bring forward the new vision and new normal for just and equitable behaviors and structures, so that the dimensions of structural racism (culturally, historically, institutionally, politically and ideologically) are dismantled and a better world is rebuilt and assembled. As NDN Collective, we are unapologetically NDN. We believe in the power, the creativity, the audacity and the commitment of artists, culture bearers and designers to create and imagine new paths, new futures, and new worlds.

We invite you as Indigenous artists to imagine, design and create projects that propose solutions to our most intractable societal problems. Whether it be protecting the health and wellbeing of communities from the COVID-19 Pandemic, clean water, earth-centered economies, Missing & Murdered Indigenous Women, renewable energy or sustainable agriculture, or law enforcement reforms, we invite you to use your art and the Radical Imagination Artist grant as a platform to amplify your work as a viable solution.

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following requirements:

1. Align with NDN Collective’s mission to build the collective power of Indigenous Peoples, communities, and nations to exercise our inherent right to self-determination, while fostering a world that is built on foundation of justice and equity for all people and Mother Earth.

2. Identify as an Indigenous person whose ancestry comes from the original people of what is now known as Canada, the United States (including American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Borikén/Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands), and Mexico. 

3. At least 18 years of age by the time the Fellowship begins.