Students from the University of Lethbridge have set up what they call the world’s first postcolonial theme park at Fort Whoop Up. The temporary carnival is called -tzintlán and promises to be a multimedia immersive and interactive experience.
“I am a PHD student and I have kind of been looking at theme parks and this idea that often in theming, we have a lot of colonial imaginaries wrapped up in theming,” said lead artist Migueltzinta Solis. “I kind of wanted to take that and flip it on its head and say when we imagine things, we imagine futures, we imagine pasts, we imagine presents — how can that appear as, for example, imagining land back land or other kinds of post-colonial futures and pasts and presents.”
He said -tzintlán is meant to resemble a traveling carnival and it showcases student art both statically and in an interactive way. Admission is free and visitors will find a virtual rollercoaster, games and performances.
“I hope that they have a many-layered experience so I hope first that they have a great time — I hope that they see the sense of humour. I feel like there’s a lot of little jokes kind of wrapped up in this park. Also I hope that they see that you, with not too many resources and not too much money, actually put together a really great public event that is engaging to people of all walks of life, people of all ages,” Solis said. “I hope that also they envision how remnants of ideas of history as a colonial things, how they can be reimagined as well and that they are part of that story.”
The park is a partnership between the Galt Museum and Archives and the University of Lethbridge and involves students in the LandMarks course, a site-specific art class. Kale Fox- Zacharias is a student in the course who contributed a sculpture and spoken word performance to the project.
“I hope that people are a lot more open minded about the concept of land back, of Indigenous and colonial relations and I hope that this brings together our community,” he said. “I think that being in the coulees especially is powerful because I come to the coulees and the water for therapy and I really feel that there is a lot of energy and spirits down here and so not only is my art for our people, but my art is for our spirits.”
Galt curator Tyler Stewart said the museum is always looking to collaborate with different groups and people to tell stories from different perspectives.
“What’s really awesome I think about this project is, it’s another opportunity for the museum and for the fort to invite in other perspectives to help us tell a more complex story about the history of this fort and about the history of the land here,” he said.
The theme park is open to the public at Fort Whoop May 11 and 12 from 5-9 p.m. and May 13 from 1-5 p.m.