Concrete Playground

Bear Witness is the artistic output of Ehren Thomas, a multimedia artist, DJ and filmmaker from Ottawa Canada. He remixes appropriated images and sound to create video assemblages that speak of his interest in the portrayal of aboriginal people in mainstream media. A member of the Cayuga Six Nations that comprise the Iroquois Confederacy, Bear Witness examines not only his own history but the way in which popular culture and art history leave their mark on a broader indigenous identity, without any notions of finger-pointing.

As part of the free arts program of this year's Sydney Festival, Bear Witness will collaborate with community members of the local Darug Nation to create a new video based piece as part of an art exhibition titled The Only Good NDN. The works will be shown in the recently founded Parramatta Artists Studios.

By Kate Jinx