Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri (Jackson 2bears) is a Kanien’kehà:ka (Mohawk) artist and cultural theorist from Six Nations of the Grand River and Tyendinaga. 2bears’ research-creation activities focus on Indigenous land-based histories and embodied cultural knowledge, wherein they explore the creative use of digital technologies as a means to support the innovation, transmission, expression, and transformation of FNMI creative and cultural practices in the context of our current digital epoch. 2bears is currently Associate Professor of Art Studio and Indigenous Studies, Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Indigenous Arts Research & Technology, and Director of the Onkwehonwe Research Environment (ORE) at Western University.

As a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Arts Research and Technology, Dr. Jackson Leween, Two Bears’ (Tékeniyáhsen Ohkwá:ri) research explores the ways Haudenosaunee conceptualize and embody an interrelationship with a universe that is ‘alive and filled with spirit’, understanding that today we live in a world increasingly saturated, mediated, and animated by technicity. His research and creative program engages with the ways Haudenosaunee cosmologies–which are inherently land-based, hybrid, and embodied forms of knowledge that contain robust conceptual frameworks for understanding technological innovation as embedded in cultural practices–can provide a unique perspective on how to navigate the technological landscape, and better integrate new technologies into existing lifeways. Their CRC program is situated at the intersection of theory and artistic practice, and consists of research-creation activities that are modeled on Haudenosaunee methodologies, in which knowledge is generated by, transferred, and maintained through oral traditions (storytelling) and other creative cultural practices. Dr. Two Bears’ work is unique in its exploration of the creative use of digital technologies to support expressions of Onkwehonwea (Indigenous creative and cultural practices), and their research program involves working in-community to create multimedia art installations, Virtual Reality Environment’s (VRE) for language revitalization, and conceptualizing new Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools based on Indigenous knowledge systems.

The Onkwehonwe Research Environment (ORE) is a new research space and creative laboratory at Western (currently under construction). When completed this research space will facilitate key activities and long-term initiatives focused on advanced Indigenous arts and technology research; it will be housed in the Visual Arts department, and function in conjunction with the Indigenous Studies department, the Wampum Learning Lodge and community organizations in Six Nations, such as Thru the Red Door. The Onkwehonwe Research Environment (ORE) is envisioned as an internationally networked research space, a laboratory for exploring artistic visions of our Indigenous Futures, a place for new Indigenous scholarship, and a practice-based studio environment for creative innovation and critical studio practice. Hybrid in character, multidisciplinary in scope, and innovative in ambition, ORE will be the central hub for Indigenous-led research-creation activities at Western, supporting all projects and initiatives related to artistic production, student training, dissemination and public/community engagement. ORE builds on current strengths in Indigenous scholarship, digital media, critical studio practice, and community engagement at Western, and will provide a collaborative environment for promoting cultural and creative growth in our/all communities. ORE will provide space, resources, and infrastructure for the training of HQP, and support collaborations with other researchers and members of the community.

Since 1999, 2bears has exhibited his work extensively across Canada in public galleries, museums, and artist-run centres, as well as internationally in festivals and group exhibitions. 2bears is an active researcher in the areas of video arts, digital media, and extended media, with a focus on embodied interaction, live audio/visual (Live Cinema) performance, and immersive, multimedia installation. Some recent exhibitions include: Musée d'art Contemporain de Montréal; Urban Shaman (Winnipeg, MB); Bbeyond (Belfast, Ireland); SAW Gallery (Ottawa, ON); A Space (Toronto, ON); the Vancouver New Music Festival (Vancouver, BC.); Vancouver Art Gallery (Vancouver, BC.); Art Gallery of Greater Victoria (Victoria, BC.); EM Media (Calgary, AB.); the Banff Centre (Banff, AB.); Redshift Gallery (Saskatoon, SK.); Digital Art Weeks (Zurich, Switzerland); North American Indigenous Games (Cowichan, BC); and the Futur-en-Seine Festival (Paris, France).

2bears is a co-director of 2RO MEDIA, with Mohawk poet and producer January Rogers. 2RO Media is an artist/curatorial collective based in Ohsweken, Six Nations of the Grand River. Active since 2015, 2RO MEDIA produces events, experimental documentaries, art installations, media works, and performances with a mandate to support Indigenous projects, productions, cultural activities, and language revitalization through community engagement, programming, and other creative initiatives. In the Fall of 2023 they launched a new media arts festival in Six Nations, which featured art installations, film & video, audio projects, performance, spoken word and artists panels/ talks (October 19-22); the second annul 2RO MEDIA Festival is scheduled for late September 2024. 2bears is also a member of Beat Nation [Live]—a First Nations artist collective that combines hip hop, live music and digital technology as a way to celebrate the spirit of contemporary Indigenous culture.

2bears is recently completed work on a multi-year project titled Ne:Kahwistará:ken Kanónhsa’kówa í:se Onkwehonwe, a multimedia Panoramic Installation made in collaboration with members of the Six Nations Community and the 2RO MEDIA artist collective. The installation consists of a 34ft panorama screen, where multiple video projectors are used to create an immersive environment, with 14 channel surround audio. At it’s core this artwork is a fictional re-telling of the Haudenosaunee Creation Story, with a cyclical narrative that weaves through the past, present, and future. Recently published scholarly essays can be found in peer-reviewed journals such as C-Theory and the Leonardo Electronic Almanac (LEA), as well as in the text Coded Territories: Tracing Indigenous Pathways in New Media Art published by the University of Calgary Press (2014). His Keynote address at the Canada Council for the Arts Digital Summit can be found on-line.

2bears holds a BA. in Art & Art History from the University of Toronto, as well as a Diploma in Fine Arts from Sheridan College, Oakville. He received his MFA from the University of Victoria during which time he produced digital media installation and performance artworks that variously explored themes of Indigenous heritage, resistance, and cultural renewal. His thesis exhibition was a telematic/ interactive installation and performance that explored such themes as distributed reality and technological immersion in relation to transformations in First Nations identity and culture. 

In 2012 2bears completed his PhD in Interdisciplinary Studies at the University of Victoria, Victoria BC. where he studied with professors Arthur Kroker, Taiaiake Alfred, Steve Gibson and Andrew Schloss. His Doctoral work takes a cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary approach to questions of contemporary Indigenous identity, technology and interactive/performance art. His dissertation, entitled Mythologies of an [Un]dead Indian, explores the aesthetics of contemporary Indigenous identity—its various manifestations, transformations, simulations and hybridizations—within the context of our hyper-mediated, technologically saturated culture. This manuscript is currently being prepared for publication.