Interviewing Sophie Rousmaniere reminded me that we all could probably be doing a little more to help the world be a better place. Sophie lives to create positive change and to fight for social justice. Her films are only one small piece of the work she creates to educate and speak about issues plaguing global society. In this interview we learn about the experiences she and husband Jay Minton have had through various film projects, travel, fundraising and even their life on the road with punk rock band The Elected Officials. If you want to get inspired to be the change you wish to see, then listen in to this episode and hear how Sophie Rousmaniere keeps the inspiration fueled in every aspect of her life.

Here is the conversation with Sophie Rousmaniere:

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All music featured on this podcast is performed by Sophie's band, The Elected Officials.

More about the artist:

Sophie Rousmaniere has worked as a filmmaker and freelance journalist in the US, Canada, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Guatemala, Pakistan, Laos, Vietnam and Thailand. She has produced, edited and directed over thirty documentaries, short films and music videos. Sophie’s work is largely social issue based, having worked on topics from child prostitution in Thailand to environmental issues in the four corners area in New Mexico. Currently Rousmaniere is wrapping up a documentary slated for broadcast on PBS; “Yellow Fever – The Navajo Uranium Legacy”. She has also been busy working on her latest project, " Radio Taboo", a development project and documentary film about Issa Nyaphaga, an artist and activist returning to his small village Nditam, in Central Africa to build a community radio station to address human rights issues.

Learn more about the work of Sophie Rousmaniere at Iron Thorn Productions

Information on the film Yellow Fever

Information on the film Radio Taboo

Sophie Rousmaniere, Lead vocals for punk band The Elected Officials.

Sopie Rousmaniere and Hilda Bih. CRTV, Camaroon

Sophie Rousmaniere and Jay Minton on location for Radio Taboo.

Jamison Chas Banks in his film Cibola. — Jamison Chas Banks in his film ***Cibola***.

Jamison Chas Banks born in Kansas, USA, is a dual citizen of the Seneca-Cayuga Tribe, and the Cherokee Tribe of Oklahoma.

"I have been an artist first and foremost since I first started thinking. I am also Native American. I live in this time, not in the past, I cannot make art that seeks to simulate my Native ancestors’ work or designs....I would characterize my work as ‘Attempting to clean an American turkey with a J. Edgar Hoover vacuum cleaner.’ I seek to subvert histories and ‘re-codex’ the American imperial sphere.”-Banks

The work of Jamison Chas Banks incorporates pop culture and indigenous iconography with military and political propaganda. He tackles intense historical tragedy with an urgency and irony that implores the viewer to focus in and think, to look deeper than what was taught, further than what we are told to hold as historical truths. Banks works in all mediums, and seems to use whatever tools necessary to convey his vision, from film to printmaking, from the canvas to massive mural work, there are no limits for this inspiring, activism based indigenous artist.

Here is the conversation with Jamison Chas Banks:

Subscribe to Art Beat Conversations on iTunes and download this episode.

End track featured on this podcast titled 'Fratres for Eight Cellos' by I Fiamminghi & Rudolf Werthen.

Red Scare, Blue Venom. Acrylic serigraph on paper. Edition of 60. Jamison Chas Banks, 2014 — Red Scare, Blue Venom. Acrylic serigraph on paper. Edition of 60. Jamison Chas Banks, 2014

More about the Artist:

Artist Jamison Chas Banks takes on symbols and turns them on their heads. He readily admits, “My art incorporates a multitude of symbols. In the end, everything can be maintained as a symbol. I often advance my own imagined personae into representing some other idea or thing, in that, the personae become symbols.” He goes on to assert that “symbols have continued to define and enrich cultures and traditions.” The Cherokee/Seneca artist exudes a certain optimism when he talks about what he perceives as a time of change: “We stand headstrong into a new arena of symbols and mythos, this is a time of renaissance and renewal. It’s safe to assume that Banks is a part of this “renaissance” and that his work is tinged with a subversive hue. He states plainly, with a hint of sarcasm, “I would characterize my work as ‘Attempting to clean a American turkey with a J. Edgar Hoover vacuum cleaner.’ I seek to subvert histories and ‘re-codex’ the American imperial sphere.

Also prevalent in Banks’ work is a military motif that is highly contemporary and relevant--- while acknowledging the tradition and importance of military service that span’s his family’s history. “Most men in my own family, have not only served in the military, but participated during active conflicts,” he explains. Yet, the paradoxical brilliance of his work comes through loud and clear: “patriotic fervor of World War II,” was preceded by harrowing boarding school experiences which literally tore families apart.

When asked specifically what the word “tradition” conjures, Banks says without hesitation, “Tradition is a cycle of behavior or belief built up over generational lengths of time. Tradition can be seen as a colonial term, but so can ‘dog’ and ‘cat’ for that matter. I imagine now anything spoken in English can be seen as a colonial term. It’s a really loaded question because, I think, most art can be defined so differently, depending on who’s defining it. In my experience, there is nothing that can be absolute.”

-Barbara Ellen Sorensen, Tribal College Journal Vol. 25 No. 1 Fall

Follow Jamison Chas Banks on his blog.

Follow Banks' film work on Vimeo.