The Aabijijiwan New Media Lab consists of three research media labs, an interactive studio, and collaborative workspaces. Our gifted name Aabijijiwan is situated in our knowledge of our place, which is innovative and interactive for thousands of years. The Aabijijiwan New Media Lab develops original research using Indigenous, people of colour and settler methodologies of embodied and cultural knowledge, integrating theory and practice into design and new media, and tracing the application of digital and new technologies. These explorations enhance the areas of visual studies, new media, critical geography, Indigenous studies, and art history, integrating critical epistemologies into existing structures within the university and within specific areas of scholarship.
Aabijijiwan means the flow or movement of the ripples of water, as the new space will create ripple effects that will transform the City of Winnipeg and beyond. Winnipeg is located on a flood plain where two great waterways meet and is the original site of the first treaty and heartland of the Métis Nation.
This 4000 square foot digital labs and collaborative space is situated in the heart of Canada. This research infrastructure will be at the forefront of the interactive digital revolution – Indigenous driven, Indigenous designed, and Indigenous led. This space will be a hub for collaborative research that engages students, UWinnipeg researchers, community partners and organizations locally, nationally and across the planet.
Aabijijiwan New Media Lab will develop original research using Indigenous methodologies of embodied and cultural knowledge, integrating theory and practice into design and new media, and tracing the application of digital and new technologies.
— Dr. Julie Nagam, Director of the aabijijiwan New Media Lab, Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts, Collaboration and Digital Media, Associate Professor in Art History at the University of Winnipeg.
This research infrastructure will create opportunities for app development, story boarding, video games, animation, and VR and augmented reality (AR) workshops rooted in Indigenous methodologies.
The City of Winnipeg is now at a pivotal moment as a key site for contemporary Indigenous art. There is a growing trend toward global recognition of the innovative and dynamic contributions Indigenous artists are making and this project will be at the forefront of an artistic, scholarly, and technological renaissance.
Director Dr. Nagam believes that access to tools and technology could be a major driver for change and social transformation for Indigenous people, new Canadians, marginalized populations, and youth more broadly.
Dr. Julie Nagam
Director of the Aabijijiwan New Media Lab
Co-Director of the Kishaadigeh Collaborative Research Centre
Dr. Julie Nagam (Metis/German/Syrian) is a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts, Collaboration and Digital Media and the former Research Chair of Indigenous Arts of North America which was a joint position with the Winnipeg Art Gallery. Dr. Nagam is an Associate Professor in the department of Art History at the University of Winnipeg. She is the inaugural Artistic Director for 2020 and 2022 for Nuit Blanche Toronto, the largest public exhibition in North America. Dr. Nagam's SSHRC research includes digital makerspaces + incubators, mentorship, digital media + design, international collaborations and place-based knowledge. She is a collective member of GLAM, which works on curatorial activism, Indigenous methodologies, public art, digital technologies, and engagement with place. As a scholar and artist, she is interested in revealing the ontology of land, which contains memory, knowledge and living histories. Dr. Nagam’s scholarship, curatorial and artistic practice has been featured nationally and internationally.
Lab Equipment
Aabijijiwan New Media Lab is a 4000 square foot research centre that house three labs, each with a specific production focus, an interactive studio for engagement with sound, projection, virtual reality (VR), and video, and a collaborative space for workshops, intergenerational gatherings, dialogues, and work.