Online Performance: Why the Caged Bird Sings

Saskatchewan indigenous musicians Berk Jodoin, Krystle Pederson and Cheryl L’Hirondelle performed their own songs, and specially arranged versions of songs from Why the Caged Bird Sings on Sunday August 13, 2- 3 PM CST at Central Library's Community Commons.

Why the Caged Bird Sings—Immersive Engagements is a solo exhibition by interdisciplinary artist Cheryl L’Hirondelle, exhibited at Dunlop Art Gallery until September 6, 2023, in partnership with Common Weal Community Arts. These works emerged from L’Hirondelle’s decades-long commitment to engaging in collaborative songwriting processes with incarcerated populations in Saskatchewan.

Since 2008, Cheryl has worked with Judy McNaughton and Common Weal Community Arts to deliver song-writing workshops. This inclusive creative process was designed to enable participants, who are at risk of having their voices, histories and identities erased, to create their own songs and to engage in conscious reconsideration of their own self-worth. “Having come from a large musical Metis family in Alberta, I start workshops talking to participants about how much music has been a lifesaver in my own life,” says Cheryl. “These workshops have become a way of sharing this survival tool with the many women, men, and youth I’ve had the honour to work with.”

Presented in partnership with the Dunlop Art Gallery.