Sisters embrace opportunity of a manga-time

Kaiatanoron Dumoulin-Bush is passionate about a few things: drawing, decolonial space travel, and making art with her sister, Katsitsanoron Dumoulin-Bush.

Kaiatanoron and Katsitsanoron are about to combine all three of those, as they prepare to embark on a month-long artist residency in Banff later this year.

“I’m nervous, but I’m just so excited,” Katsitsanoron said. “I just can’t wait to get any type of advice about perfecting my craft and to work on storytelling in a way I haven’t thought about before.”

The siblings plan to work on a manga (a Japanese style of graphic novel) focused on a female Indigenous protagonist exploring space. The piece will be targeted towards youth aged nine to 12 years old and has been a dream of the two for years.

“I think doing a story about a Rotinonhsión:ni protagonist in that kind of spirit with such a wonderful, vivacious main character, there’s really a place for that,” Kaiatanoron said. “I’m just so happy to draw it and create and enter new universes.”

Kaiatanoron said that the idea for the project is already in motion, and that the two already have a publisher lined up for a French version of the story. The residency is coming at a perfect time, where the siblings can work on thoroughly fleshing out their ideas.

“I’m really looking forward to having time to dedicate to this project. We’ve been trying to get this project off the ground for about a year and a half, so I’m so excited to just dive into this,” said Kaiatanoron.

Kaiatanoron will be illustrating the graphic novel, and Katsitsanoron will be doing the writing for it.

“I’m really looking forward to the experience but this is still really a first-time experience for me. Writing several volumes of work is – no pun intended – an astronomical amount,” Katsitsanoron said. “I’m hoping I can somehow manage to get all of those words out in the right amount of time, and get everything together and making sense.”

The residency is offered through the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, and is in the visual arts stream, under the theme “The System and Other Universes.”

Throughout the residency, the siblings will have 24/7 access to their art studio as well as other facilities offered by the centre. They will also be mentored by contemporary visual artists Shary Boyle and Howie Tsui, which Kaiatanoron said they both intend to take full advantage of.

“(Boyle) is one of my artistic idols, I have some of her books and I’m totally going to get them autographed by her,” she said, adding that Boyle works with a range of mediums that she is interested in exploring when mapping out her fictional universe.

“(Tsui) also has this amazing sense of space, they make these wonderful drawings and projections that take up the whole room, so I’m looking forward to learning how we can take up space with the world we create.”

The residency will begin at the start of November, and the siblings are already making plans for what they’ll do when they arrive.

“There used to be an observation station about a 20 minute hike from where we’re staying, so we’re planning to hike to that station to try and soak in some of those exploratory, scientific vibes that are left at that site,” Katsitsanoron said.

Though the general plot of the story is already mapped out, the surroundings will inform the details of the project, and Kaiatanoron said she’s hoping the characters will spring to life once she’s in Banff.

“For me designing a character is really like meeting them, and I’m so excited to meet and become familiar with them, and put them in all sorts of fun outfits that are futurist but also traditionally inspired by regalia,” she said. “It’s just going to be a really fun, enjoyable time, and I can’t wait to see what we create in that environment.”

Most of all, the siblings are excited to work alongside one another for a prolonged period of time.

“This is our first time really working together. I’ve hired my sister as my assistant, so we’ve worked together but only answering emails and helping with repetitive stuff, it’s not creative,” Kaiatanoron said. “It’s also something I’m looking forward to, working and collaborating with my sister.”

Kaiatanoron and Katsitsanoron will wrap up their joint residency in December, and are looking forward to sharing what they create with the community.

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