The name Ullus is a direct word translated from the Syilx Language, which translates as “a gathering of people for a common purpose”. The metaphor is the evolvement of the Ullus Collective as an Indigenous collective to advance media arts. ULLUS was founded in 1989 by siblings Jeannette, Richard and the late August Armstrong as an opportunity to provide training and production funds to indigenous
producers in the areas of media arts. In 1997 It was administered by former Ullus Collective Chair member Tracey Kim Bonneau in partnership with the En'owkin Centre and what is formally known as IASO (Indigenous Arts Services Organization). In 2012, Victoria Baptiste completed an Artistic Director Mentorship under the En'owkin Centre funded by the Aboriginal Arts Development Awards to create an operations plan, terms of reference and a strategic plan which included formally separating ULLUS from being a media art collective run on a project by project basis administered by the En'owkin Centre as its own organization to assist in the management, development, production and dissemination of the Indigenous Arts and Artists from the BC Interior. The ULLUS Collective membership that consists of Indigenous artists, writers, directors, producers, stage, theatre actors, playwrights, journalists, camera operators, field technicians, video editors, on-camera hosts and casting directors in addition to Visual Artists, painters, sculptors, carvers, installation artists, puppeteers, audio engineers, musicians, computer graphic designers, media producers, web designers, traditional artists and traditional performers to name a few. Ullus artists pool their talent base to develop new skills and opportunities for exhibition and presentation. The collective has met consistently over the past fifteen years to develop as a working cohesive artist run centre. The Ullus Collective continues to indicate a strong interest in advance-level training and networking opportunities to assist further media arts development. Additional infrastructure and development will lend to a cohesive entity and provide the artists with ongoing programs towards the advancement of Aboriginal works specifically in assiting with the identification and dissemination of the BC Interior Indigneous Art Form to the general public and main stream audiences.
