Storytelling is a deeply powerful tool, connecting people from all walks of life and helping new ideas flourish.
Locally and across the globe, many artists from racial or cultural minorities lack a platform to share their stories, a barrier this weekend's The Root Experience festival aims to dissolve.
"What we really want to honor in this festival is the power of story," says James Pakootas, co-founder of The Root Experience Collective. "Our biggest impact that we want to leave with this festival is to inspire and wake up the artists of the city."
The two-day festival showcases 14 short films, three music videos and two feature films created by artists who identify as Black, Indigenous or people of color (BIPOC) from the Pacific Northwest and Canada, with six live performances taking place each day.
"Yes, Spokane is the center of this vision, but let's open this up to these different cultures," says Pakootas. "Let's be really intentional about doing border erasure and reconnection, and healing of nations that have been divided from these borders of both Alaska and the Yukon, and lower Canada and the Pacific Northwest."
The festival originally began as an effort to highlight Indigenous artists, but Pakootas and Root Experience Collective co-founder and director Olivia Evans opened it to all BIPOC artists in order to provide more creatives from marginalized communities with a platform. As a result, the production team grew to include musician Devonte "T.S" Pearson and artist Jáiz Boyd.
Evans is a multidisciplinary visual artist who combines traditional and modern mediums, creating art that echoes her experiences as a Black, Indigenous and Italian woman. From the Colville Confederated Tribes, Pakootas is a hip-hop artist and filmmaker who uses words as a vessel to create change.
"We're going outside of the box. We're saying 'No, when you think of BIPOC, don't think of tradition only,'" Pakootas says. "Think of our living being, our fullness, our spirit and the presentness of the world that we're in as well."
He wants the festival to change how BIPOC communities address the deep-rooted racist and patriarchal institutions still ingrained everywhere.
"There is a strong story thread already woven in this country about intergenerational trauma," he says. "By creating a platform that celebrates each other's culture, we are beginning the new cycle and a new narrative of intergenerational resilience."
The Root Experience begins Saturday evening of Aug. 26 at A Place of Truths Plaza in downtown Spokane, next to City Hall, which was designed by Spokane Tribal member Jeff Ferguson and Colville Tribal member Virgil "Smoker" Marchand. Part of the event's opening ceremony honors Marchand, who died earlier this year. His sculptures of Indigenous figures can be seen throughout the plaza and park below.
On Saturday, vendors with art, beauty products, and information about their organizations are posted in the Central Library, along with free Thai and Mexican food from Feast World Kitchen. The second day of The Root Experience Festival takes place at the Magic Lantern Theater and the Saranac Commons, where vendors and food will be set up on the sidewalk connecting the two buildings.
At the Magic Lantern, attendees can view short films, music videos and a feature film. The film slate includes informative pieces like Indigenous Resistance: Now and Then by Wáats'asdiyei Joe Yates, which tells Indigenous peoples' stories of the challenges they face and their resulting resilience. Other more experimental films being shown include the stop-motion documentary Ajjigiingiluktaaqtugut (We Are All Different) by Lindsay McIntyre, which tells stories of BIPOC individuals feeling disconnected from their cultures.
"You don't have to stay in a specific medium to tell your story," Evans says. "People are just breaking down that barrier altogether of just staying in their lane. They're naturally coming out and saying what they want to say."
Both Evans and Pakootas hope people attend the festival with an open and receptive mindset, preparing to reflect on the various pieces while celebrating the artists and cultures being showcased.
"I just hope they really let it absorb into their minds and into their energy," Evans says. "It's also a teaching environment at the same time, but celebratory really is what we're going for."
This two-day festival is only the beginning of what The Root Experience Collective team hopes to accomplish.
Pakootas says their work is currently being funded by Omprakash, a nonprofit focused on fostering communication and education among communities across the globe. A 2022 Spokane Arts Grant Award also helped cover costs of this year's event.
Evans says the team hopes to create a space for all BIPOC artists to feel seen and heard, providing extra support for young, emerging artists, while simultaneously encouraging more people to share their stories and attend workshops or participate in future events.
Pakootas notes how stressful the last few years with COVID-19 have been, but he wants people to attend the festival with the goal of recognizing the beauty of life.
"We just want people to come into the doors and just let go of that stress, let go of that worry, let go of the inflation, let go of racism, let go of all of that, and sit down and go, 'Damn, it feels good to be human,'" he says.
"We want to shake them awake with art." ♦
The Root Experience • Sat, Aug. 26 from 5-10 pm and Sun, Aug. 27 from noon-9:10 pm • Free • Downtown Spokane, locations vary • therootexperience.org
