Code can mean many things. In the contemporary moment we understand code as the digital languages and protocols that program the applications and software we interface with daily. Code is also a prescriptive set of rules and protocols that guide a culture and individuals within that culture on what is required to lead a good and sacred life, in Anishinaabemowin — Mino Bimaadiziwin.

“Encoding” simply means to convert something into a coded form. As Barry Ace’s work deals with the deep rooted aspects of Anishinaabe culture, as well as makes use of the digital refuse of our times, as an aesthetic iteration on Great Lakes material culture it is fitting to refer to what he does as “encoding culture.” Layers of cultural code are embedded into everything he creates.

In Ace’s work we see a trajectory of communication technology. From referencing traditional wigwaasabakoon (birch bark scrolls) to digital tablets embedded into gash-kibidaaganag (bandolier bags) Ace considers not only the negative impacts European technology has had on Indigenous people post-contact but also how it provides the capacity to innovate with agency, using new technologies as a form of cultural continuance.

Read full Encoding Culture II catalogue on Issuu.