How do you translate Shakespeare into Mohawk? Ask Stratford Festival artist Wahsontí:io Kirby (Nanakiemem First Nation), whose work is now in an exhibition at the museum.
The work in question is an installation of more than 10,000 pages from Shakespeare’s complete works of plays, poems, and the prose that makes up the canon of his works. It will be permanently part of the museum’s collection.
“It’s a very important work,” Kirby said in a phone interview this week. “The Shakespearean canon is a very important body of work that’s important to our nation and to our people. It’s a great work of art.”
But this is not the first time Kirby has dealt with Shakespeare’s works. In 2011, he helped to create a one-man show of his artwork at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre (RST), presenting a wide range of his works based on his interpretation of the Shakespearean canon.
“My interpretation of Shakespeare is not just a poetic interpretation, it’s a very literal interpretation,” said Kirby. “I think my interpretation of Shakespeare is very different and very important to our nation and our people.”
Kirby took his inspiration from the first of the plays to be included in the final collection of Shakespeare’s works, Macbeth, published in 1605. “I’m a Macbeth fan, I’m a fan of Shakespeare, so my whole interpretation of the plays is based in Macbeth.”
In the show Kirby interpreted Shakespeare’s characters as Mohawk warriors. They include the Macduff family and the witches, played by Kirby and a fellow artist, Riaan Nihartea.
“I’ve been doing Macbeth since 2011. It’s just that Macbeth is so important to our
