Jordan Bennett’s piece in the show, Turning Tables, is a record player system made of wood; when you put on the headphones, you’ll hear Bennett speaking in his indigenous tongue.
Bringing together 40 years of history with contemporary visual art, Hip-hop du Bronx aux rues arabes is an exhibition dedicated to a cultural and musical movement from the underground to the mainstream. Only two works from Canada are on display at this international hip-hop showcase – which was curated by French rapper Akhenaton at the Institut du Monde Arabe in Paris and runs until July 26 – and both are by indigenous artists. Multidisciplinary artists Jordan Bennett (left), who is of Mi'kmaq heritage, and Sonny Assu, who is Ligwilda'xw of the Kwakwaka'wakw nations, were selected to exhibit alongside 20 other artists. Bennett says he finds "a giant connection" between the evolution of hip hop that grew out of New York in the 1970s and aboriginal artwork. "It's about identifying who you are and your community [and] bringing community issues to the foreground," he says. "[Hip-hop artists are] sampling these previous influences and making it their own in the same way artists are taking parts of our culture, things that people don't remember … and making them new again, making them ours." Bennett's piece in the show, Turning Tables, is a record player system made of wood; when you put on the headphones, you'll hear Bennett speaking in his indigenous tongue. Assu showed Ellipsis, a series of 136 copper LPs, or a "record" of 136 years [as of 2012, when he made the piece] of the Indian Act.