Every March, we will focus our attention on March 21: The International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by highlighting 21 pieces meant to inspire and strengthen communities in the struggle against racism and other forms of oppression. This year, we will be highlight activism and the arts in our Queen's, local, and global community.
Queen's University
For the past decade, our office has displayed Leo Yerxa’s artwork. He identified as an artist of Ojibway ancestry, and his pieces have given our physical space an important Indigenous presence. Leo’s pieces translate the meaning of our work into visual art.
Leo was born June 19, 1947 on Little Eagle Reserve near Fort Frances in northern Ontario. His father was a trapper who lived off the land, but Leo was drawn to art, studying first at Algonquin College and later fine art at the University of Waterloo.
Leo started creating design and graphic work for the Human Rights Office when times were difficult for the office financially. His first piece was the original logo -birds stretching upwards toward freedom- that was the face of the office for many years. Later on, the office commissioned him to do an art piece that would represent the spirit of human rights. During that time there wasn’t much budget for art, but Leo believed in the work that our staff was doing, so he decided to create, and gift, four additional pieces: sexual harassment prevention, anti-racism, anti-LGBTQ discrimination, Indigeneity and identity.
Four of Leo's designs were used for Canada’s Olympic coins for the 1976 Summer Games in Montreal. His 2006 children’s book, Ancient Thunder, was honoured with the Governor General’s Literary Award.
Learn more about Leo and the HREO.
For the second day of the 21 Days of Activism, we are highlighting the online exhibition titled History is Rarely Black or White. History Is Rarely Black or White is a fellowship and exhibition project generated by Jason Cyrus, Isabel Bader Fellow in Textile Conservation and Research. It is being presented at the Agnes Etherington Art Centre from 27 November 2021–20 March 2022.
Since the public murder of George Floyd and the social justice uprisings of summer 2020, there has been a renewed call to challenge racism. We must question dominant narratives and reimagine an equitable history. History Is Rarely Black or White explores these questions through garments, artifacts, portraiture, and contemporary art related to the cotton trade. The capitalist structure of the 1700s to 1800s cotton supply chain systemically entrenched Blackness as an inhuman, economic element to be controlled.
Learn more here: https://agnes.queensu.ca/digital-agnes/online-exhibition/hirbow/
For day 3 of the 21 days of activism, we are featuring a variety of murals around Queen's campus, while also highlighting a chance for the Queen's community to provide input on the upcoming Advocacy Coalition Mural!
The Agnes Etherington Art Centre has acquired, through the Chancellor Richardson Memorial Fund, three striking outdoor installations by leading Indigenous artists Raven Chacon, Camille Georgeson-Usher and Ogimaa Mikana (Susan Blight and Hayden King). These mural-size works were created for the exhibition Soundings: An Exhibition in Five Parts, curated by Candice Hopkins (Tlingit) and Dylan Robinson (Stó:l?).
Learn more about the installation here: https://agnes.queensu.ca/connect/news-and-stories/landmark-acquisition-of-indigenous-art.
In 2021, Queen's students returned to campus in the fall semester to the newly painted mural "A Love that Clings". This mural was designed by Queen's fine arts student Niki Boytchuk-Hale and was installed on Harrison-LeCaine Hall. The project to bring a consent-themed mural to campus was initiated by students Maeve Avis Kozar and Megan Sieroka, co-chairs of Queen’s Consensual Humans, a student club founded in 2017 to promote the importance of consent in all areas of campus culture.
Learn more about the mural here: https://www.queensu.ca/gazette/stories/drawing-attention-issue-consent-through-art.
Lastly, the Office of the Principal and Vice-Chancellor has partnered with the student-led Queen’s University Advocacy Coalition to commission a new piece of art. The mural will be located on the south wall of the Queen’s Athletics and Recreation Centre, providing an opportunity to visibly illustrate the diversity of the Queen’s community and signal a future that is focused on celebration, healing, resilience, cultural diversity, and optimism.
Vote on which piece you would like to see on campus here: https://www.queensu.ca/principal/edii/advocacy-coalition-mural.
Local
Britta B. is an award-winning artist, poet, emcee, voice actor and educator. In 2021, Britta won the Toronto Arts Foundation Emerging Artist Award, and was named COCA Lecturer of the Year. Her works have featured in print, in sound and onstage across North America in numerous notable spheres.
As part of the welcoming for the Black Portraiture[s]: Absent/ed Presence conference, hosted by Agnes and presented by Wedge Curatorial Projects, Britta was commissioned for the following piece, titled BLACK BALANCE.
Learn more here: https://agnes.queensu.ca/digital-agnes/video/black-balance-poem-by-britta-b/.
Erin Ball identifies as a white, Mad (from the Mad Pride Movement), Disabled treaty inhabitant. She is a double below knee amputee and circus artist based in Katarokwi/Kingston. She is the director of Kingston Circus Arts and is the co-founder of LEGacy Circus (a performance company co-created with Mad artist, Vanessa Furlong). Erin achieved Disability in 2014 and she took a year off. She has since returned to her passion of training, coaching and performing with a focus of including as many people in her audiences, as collaborators and performers in shows, as well as students in her classes. She has traveled internationally to perform and teach. She strives for representation, access and inclusion in the arts.
Learn more here: http://www.kingstoncircusarts.com/about-us/.
Yessica Rivera Belsham is the founder and heart of Ollin.ca, an organization which promotes growth within individuals, families, and communities in a compassionate and embracing manner with workshops, events, festivals, services and more which are all fostered in inclusion, diversity, and equity within the Kingston and Ottawa area.
Learn more here: https://ollin.ca/about-us.
Global
On the morning of June 10, 2020, 15 local artists gathered together to create the 20 feet tall and 250 feet feet wide mural, spelling out: "BLACK LIVES MATTER". Amidst the protests against police brutality taking place throughout the country, this mural served as one of Seattle's largest and most vibrant artistic symbols of revolution.
Learn more about the mural, its artists, and the inspirations behind their letters: https://crosscut.com/culture/2021/06/16-artists-1-message-seattles-black-lives-matter-mural-year-later.
For the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, the Queen's Human Rights and Equity Office has compiled a Spotify playlist that we encourage everyone to check out!
Start listening here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/206KJXwesrwJeFzmSw6n70.
For our final 21 Days of Activism post, we would like to give a more thorough introduction to Queen's alumni, Nirosha Balakumar! Graduating from Queen's in 2019, Nirosha furthered her studies and graduated recently with from Cambridge University, having pursued an MPhil in Education, Globalization, and International Development as a McKenzie King Scholar and Marty Memorial Fellow.
This year, Nirosha will be joining the Queen's Human Rights and Equity Office on March 21, the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. Join us on our Instagram Live at 1PM EDT to listen to Nirosha perform her spoken word poetry!
To hear more about Nirosha's academic journey and her spoken word poetry, visit: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCPudhCbex2X6C5RmNyqtmrg.