Kayla Briët: Why do I make art? To build time capsules for my heritage
Kayla Briët: ¿Por qué creo arte? Para construir cápsulas del tiempo para mi herencia
TED Fellow Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
del Pueblo de Taos,
the Taos Pueblo Hoop Dance,
de años en el suroeste de EE.UU.
of years ago in Southwestern USA.
de madera de sauce
out of willow wood,
elementos del entorno natural
to create formations of the natural world,
las preciosidades de la vida.
constantemente en círculo
in a constant spin,
a través de una ventana cultural.
a cultural window to the past.
de ver el mundo a su alrededor.
at the world around them.
obsessed with time capsules.
las cápsulas del tiempo.
es que a los seres humanos
is that they're uncontrollably fascinating
de mantener vivas las historias.
of keeping stories alive.
de mi herencia y del pasado,
of my heritage and the past
con películas y música para compartir.
time capsules to share.
cómo encontré mi voz,
how I found my voice,
acerca de cómo me crié.
about how I grew up.
in a multigenerational home,
en un hogar multigeneracional
que vivía bajo el mismo techo
uncles and grandparents.
with immigrant parents,
y chino con padres inmigrantes,
de Prairie Band
in Northeastern Kansas.
aprendía a repulgar empanadas
how to fold dumplings,
danzas tradicionales
traditional-style dancing
de tambores y cantantes.
of drums and singers.
culturas era lo normal,
cultures was the norm,
muy desconcertante.
to find my voice,
or Native enough.
de ninguna comunidad,
of any community,
las historias de mi herencia
the stories of my heritage
para redescubrir la mía propia.
to rediscover my own.
gave me a voice was music.
que me daba una voz fue la música.
y múltiples instrumentos
and multiple instruments,
mucho más grandes que el mío.
that were much bigger than my own.
les invito a un portal sónico
into a sonic portal
más me gusta tocar es el guzheng,
is the guzheng zither,
tiene cientos de años,
is hundreds of years old,
than 2,000 years of history.
de más de 2000 años.
influyen mucho en mí hoy,
influence me today,
con un instrumento que se usaba
to play traditional folk music long ago.
tradicional hace mucho tiempo.
a la escala pentatónica,
to the pentatonic scale,
en muchas partituras de música
in so many parts of music
de los indios estadounidenses.
y de aferrarse al pasado,
and holding onto the past,
a la música que creo hoy en día.
the music I create today.
this feeling of immersion
esta sensación de inmersión
sobre la música.
para aprender software de edición,
to learn editing software,
para ahorrar dinero
que quería contar y preservar.
I wanted to tell and preserve.
documentary film,
of music, song, color and dance,
la canción, el color y la danza,
de que una parte de mi identidad,
of my identity, my Native heritage,
sea olvidada con el tiempo.
due to historically forced assimilation.
por la histórica asimilación forzada.
hasta el principio de los años 70,
a ir a internados
si mantenían sus costumbres tradicionales
if they practiced traditional ways
se transmitían oralmente.
recognized tribes in the United States,
de manera federal en EE.UU.,
con llevar pelo largo trenzado.
wearing long hair in braids.
en el mundo como seres humanos".
in the world as human beings."
durante más de un año,
for over a year,
from around the world,
a cabo la misma lucha
with the exact same struggle
el poder de la narración
the power storytelling has
que conlleva este poder.
that comes with this power.
when our stories are rewritten or ignored,
son reescritas o ignoradas,
y el escuchar simplemente las de otros
and just listening to each other's
que supere el tiempo mismo.
that can transcend time itself.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Kayla Briët - Filmmaker, musicianTED Fellow Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music.
Why you should listen
Kayla Briët explores themes of identity and self-discovery in multiple mediums of storytelling: film, multi-media arts and music. Briët's short documentary, Smoke That Travels, immerses viewers in her native Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation heritage and explores fears that her culture may someday be forgotten. This film has screened and won awards at over 45 festivals internationally, including MoMA in NYC, and has been archived in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. The film also earned her a year-long fellowship with Sundance Film Festival in 2016.
As a multi-instrumentalist and self-taught composer, Briët also scores her own films and creates music in styles ranging from cinematic to alternative pop to electronic. She performs live as a one-woman band, with her keyboard, guitar, loop pedal and guzheng zither, a traditional Chinese instrument. Recently, Briët was named a 2017 TED Fellow, 2016 Sundance Film Festival Ignite Fellow, 2016 Adobe Creativity Scholar, 2016 MIT Chamber Scholar for her interest in blockchain technology, and a 2016 Oculus Launch Pad Artist for virtual reality. Currently, she is creating and directing documentary and experimental film as well as immersive experiences in the virtual reality space.
Kayla Briët | Speaker | TED.com