As my time as Contributing Editor to this lovely column, I have tried to bring contemporary histories to light - emphasizing the efforts of African Canadians today as relevant and important. I hope that my personal efforts have succeeded, and that you readers enjoyed what I believe was a needed cultural update. Finally, I hope that the events and movements that I've written about have been engaged with.
As my final post for musings I would like to shamelessly promote my upcoming group exhibition titled Common Ground: ART x BISSELL 2016. Further, I would like to highlight the lit local talent that we will be featuring, many of which are of African descent and address issues in Black communities through their work.
I am not going to give away too much information (because I want you to come to the opening of course...) but I am going to give you a brief preview of what to expect.
Protest
One of the photographic works document a specific protest against the killing of an African-American teenager. Through the artists' lens and by way of your own interpretation, you may experiences scenes of resistance during a climate of racial inequality.
A dominant subject of works across the entirety of the exhibition, artists attempt to deal with their diverse cultural identities. From the Ivory Coast to Tanzania, artists take you on an expressive journey through their struggle, acceptance, and understanding of movement.
To understand one's Blackness independent of any type of stereotype or classification is a feat that one artist has explored in her snapshots. A diverse array of people of African descent are featured, in all of their individual glory.
If you haven't caught onto my clever little hints, the theme of the exhibition deals with experiences and views of displacement by the clique of artists featured in the show (and I've only named a few!). They've poured themselves onto a tabla rasa opening on April 7, 2016.
Editor's Note: Click the date for more information about the event!
A piece from the Water Carry Me Go Fashion Show. Photographer: Jalani Morgan, Model: Aluad Anei, Garment by: Carol Barretto. (Image Source: Hawa Noor)
As this glorious month comes to an end, I thought it best to provide you with a list of some of the great events that occurred and are currently ongoing celebrating the accomplishments of Black Canadians and beyond.
I only list 9, but make no mistake there are many more events!
First up,
Friday Night Live Encore: One Love Celebrates Bob Marley at the Royal Ontario Museum
Possibly one of the best FNL's that I have ever attended, the ROM outdid itself with a combination of a Bahamian carnival procession line, "Water Carry Me Go" a beautifully powerful fashion show (by SUPAFRIK), full on chicken roti, and a soca/dancehall/afrobeat party entitled GUMBO (also by SUPAFRIK) that had the whole of Bronfman Hall in a complete dance mania. The event brought together the diverse cultural cores that makes up Toronto's Black community all while learning about Hatschepsut's trip to Punt in the Ancient Egypt Gallery.
My breath was clearly taken. (Image Source: Myriam Dioubaté)
This past weekend, a discussion around music, stereotypes and Black culture took place with Black artists who challenge these stereotypes through their art. The event sought to create a dialogue regarding Afro-diasporic cultural expression in music and its under-representation with a focus on Canadian industry.
The panel included Haitian Afro-Electronica music artist Val-Inc, Toronto-based Ethiopian-Eritrian music artist Witch Prophet, Garvia Bailey from Jazz FM and CBC's Exhbitionists host Amanda Parris.
Zun Lee: Fade Resistance - An Exhibition of Found Polaroids at the Gladstone Hotel
The Gladstone Hotel has been on my arts and culture radar this year, and this exhibition has secured its spot. An archival project seeking to discover the stories behind snapshot photographs of Black individuals, Zun Lee put together a powerful display that questions Black agency and empowerment. The event explains that, "These images reflect the way black people saw themselves on their terms - without the intention of being seen, or judged, by others." I haven't seen this yet, but I will be seeing you soon Gladstone Hotel!
Black Future Month 3016 Exhibition and the Pixelation Exhibition at the Ontario College of Art and Design University
OCAD U just went along and made my heart smile this month:
The Black Future Month 3016 Afro Futurism Art Exhibition is the 4th annual installation of its kind. The artists in the exhibit explore Black identity from a futuristic point of view, placing it in real or imagined space and time. This also happens to be the longest consecutively running Black art exhibition in Toronto.
Pixelation is another installation at the institution that explores Black identity. This time, Graphic Design student Zvikomborero Mhakayakora curates 11 artists that challenge and question the representation or lack thereof of Blackness in contemporary art:
"...in order to reflect on how black identity has been formed and continues to be made in this contemporary moment. These works explore many themes including whiteness as default, institutionalized ethnocentrism, displacing racial stereotypes, internalized self-hatred, resistance against consumer culture, dominant settler society, modern practices of enslavement, notions of identity, the process of decolonization and the search for "home"".
Historica Canada Celebrates Black Canadian Women at the Canadian Museum of Immigration in Halifax
Historica Canada hosted a lavish evening of food and drink alongside the opportunity to experience the storytelling of female leaders in Canada's Black community who have been trailblazers in their own right as well as inspiration for others. I'll toast to that.
The No. 2 Construction Battalion was the only Black segregated battalion in Canada during the First World War. In commemoration and honour of this, PAMA unveiled a Canadian postage stamp featuring soldiers from the Battalion.
TBFF's mission is to allow their audience to discover - and this year, that is just what they did. Throughout the first two weeks of February, film screenings of diasporic experiences to talks about The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution with remarkable individuals, the festival was definitely an event worth taking part in for this year and those to come.
This month was indeed an event-filled recognition of Blackness, and the Canadian arts and culture industry were key players in that. Although I would love to see these events take place year-round as much as within the month of February, creating a stronger and more rounded experience for everyone.
This past weekend, I floated into a collaborative art show entitled Come Up To My Room. As part of the Toronto Design Offsite Festival and held at the uniquely preserved Gladstone Hotel on Queen West, the Gladstone Gallery opened its rooms to numerous artists of various disciplines to exhibit their works.
Style and Profile Barbershop and Identity Lab exhibit. (Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
I not only decided to focus on Nigerian-Canadian Chinedu Ukabam's Style & Profile: Barbershop and Identity Lab exhibit in support of my dear friend who helped work on it but because of its irrefutable connection to Black culture as well as its profound messages of self-identity in the face of contemporary societal self-representation. I was (and quite honestly still am) so overwhelmed by the complex connections between historical and cultural contextualizations to the modern day that I knew no other way to explain this installation to you than by breaking it down visually accompanied by my exact emotions.
Bafflement: Futuristic Nostalgia
The exhibit was inspired by the look of barbershops found in the African continent beginning in the 1930's. This aesthetic has continued contemporarily. The room was tiled with a Bakuba print from the Congo that distributed triangular forms equally in black and white. Portraits of the popular futuristic-looking late 19th- early 20th-century Amasunzu hairstyle, most commonly worn among Rwandans, mirrored each other on the wall. The entire vibe of the space brought me elsewhere. Ukabam recreated a barbershop that donned the African aesthetics of what one would look like from the 20th century to the present day, and then placed it in 2050. This caused me to find myself into the past, the present, and the future - as the artist took elements of each period and strategically positioned them into a single space. This was freedom to further examine contemporary issues with identity in all three periods of time.
"There’s something powerful about imagining a future where we are still there, and thriving, and having reverence for past culture. Whenever I create work that deals with the future, I always inject a lot of what could be considered ancient because that is my hope for the future. I envision a future that involves a lot of going backwards to reclaim the things that have worked in the past." (Chinedu Ukabam, Interview, 2016).
The Amasunzu hairstyle walks the line between an early 20th century norm and common contemporary perceptions of futuristic norms. (Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
Congolese Bakuba print line the walls of the space, creating the aesthetic of barbershops in the African continent. (Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
Amazement: The Barbershop as a Space for Self-Curation
This was possibly the most meaningful connection that I made with the exhibit. One of its clear messages was taking a space traditionally meant to change hairstyles and facial grooming to another level by giving customers the opportunity to change their entire identity. This is where the Identity Lab side of the barbershop comes in. A clever installation listed a number of ID Chips that customers could insert in order to construct a particular identity. The exhibit played with Futuristic Nostalgia and took the appearance-changing aspect of the barbershop literally. Through it, Ukabam played with the idea of curating identity to its extremities.
(Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
Bewilderment (because this was too real): The Impostor
Hair was addressed as a method of self-curation through the artist's use of the Afro. Painted portraits of individuals who have worn the hairstyle were accompanied by titles that described how they were viewed by others and possibly how they viewed themselves.
How do you interpret hair as a method of curating identity?
Arisa Cox - Not Safe for Work? Her employer asked her to straighten her hair for work. (Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
Rachel Dolezal, a woman born White, adopted a Black identity through many ways, one of which was by changing her hair. (Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
Angela Davis was a leader in the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. (Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
Assata Shakur was a member of the Black Liberation Party and the Black Panther Party. (Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
Understanding: Cultural Contextualization in relation to Contemporary Societal Norms
Lastly, the exhibit spoke to how the acceptance or rejection of appearances differ depending on who or what the individual is. It also depends on context. I saw this in two mixed-media portraits that utilized the decorative trend of putting flowers in one's hair. Wherein Ethiopia, certain tribes bear floral headdresses that look extremely similar to those who take it as a fashion trend in the countries of the West. Ukabam puts the visitor in the position to ask themselves if this is prmtv or avnt grd?
(Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
(Image Source:Annissa Malvoisin)
My favourite interactive were these amazing ID Shades that were representational of a future product of 2050. As part of the Identity Lab, you could try these on in order to gain the ability to view people as they would like to be seen rather than how they themselves portray themselves to be. Amazing, right?!
(Image Source: Hawa Noor)
While standing in this small space, I wondered how so much was captured and communicated so simply but so powerfully - all through a few words and objects. Although the exhibit has been deinstalled, I hope that I brought enough of it to you to enjoy as much as I did.
The Festival ran from January 18th - 24th, 2016 (sorry!). The exhibit installation was supported by Chinedu Ukabam's company SUPAFRIK.
It was 1977 and he had just landed at the Pearson International Airport in Mississauga. Although his night was not spent where he may have anticipated. Rather, he found himself in a cold, concrete cell - while outside on Wellington Street East and Queen Street East his arrest had ignited a spur of support, protests, and overwhelming international media press.
The Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives (PAMA) is a cultural institution that was home to a prominent figure in the human and civil rights movement in the United States. Located in Brampton, Ontario, the trifold campus was renovated in 2012 (please check it out). The courthouse and jail were built in 1867 and the Registry Office in 1890. A little over a century later, the rarely-used prison was the subject on the cover of newspapers across North America.
Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives. (Image Soruce)
Black Panther Party leader Huey P. Newton on the right and co-founder Bobby Seale on the left. (Image Source)
My summer internship was research-heavy (which is always good), and I found some pretty incredible information while both living my life in the Peel Archives and on online libraries. Huey P. Newton, one of the original leaders of the Black Panther Party, was detained for five days on murder charges laid in the United States. Newton had a few run-ins with the law and eventually left for Cuba to avoid them. This incident followed his stay in South America. While stopping over in Toronto, he was arrested at the Pearson International Airport and brought to the Peel County Jail. Beginning with 1960's microfilm, the newspapers that I examined which covered the story were dominated by titles such as "Black Power Threat" and "Racial Problem in Canada". As I moved closer to the 1970's, I focused heavily on The Brampton Daily Times (please check this out too, if you like archived newspapers). Residents were afraid. Not of Newton, but of the intensifying solidarity between the Black community that generated as a result of his presence.
Research at PAMA. The title of the Brampton Daily Times newspaper article from 1977 reads "Panther Leader in City Jail". (Image Source: Annissa Malvoisin)
This reminds me of #BlackLivesMatter and the harmony between communities occurring today around the world as a result of the ongoing police brutality towards Black bodies. #BlackLivesMatter has played a critical role in spearheading a movement that seeks to bring awareness concerning Black people and the absence of their basic human rights in the face of state violence. To learn more about who they are and what they do, click here.
How did Newton's stay affect local Black communities? Well, it did to such a degree as creating this same sense of community with local members of the Black Panther Party and residents located right there in Brampton.
References
Black Panther Party. (2015). In Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/topic/Black-Panther-Party
Brampton Daily Times. (June 1977). Reel 1, Peel Archives, Peel Art Gallery, Museum and Archives.
Richmond, Norman (Otis). 2009. “Huey P. Newton.” Pan-African News Wire blog, August 27. Retrieved from http://panafricannews.blogspot.ca/2009/08/huey-p-newton-1942-1989-canadian.html
Editor's Note: All photographs were retrieved from the Instagram accounts of the artists featured. Click their handles!
Instagram though? Photographers and artists on Instagram have exploded in the past couple of years and their art has been growing across the online and physical art world. These artists have made an impression on Toronto by using the city as their canvas as they weave fashion, the concrete foundation, individuals, objects, and their creativity to produce professional (and quite amazing) works.
Halima's photography includes images of her life and the people in it. Her artwork was displayed at the Scratch and Mix Exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO) that I spoke about here.
Jah's photographs include portraitures that capture the power and intimacy between the camera and the subject. His works were also displayed at the Scratch and Mix exhibition at the AGO.
Half-Tanzanian, half-Canadian of Irish descent, teacher and social brand manager, Taha is multifaceted and multi-talented. His photos range from rain-induced puddles on the city streets to the multi-coloured Toronto skies. And concerts.
Yannick covers portraits, concerts, and fun times. His photography is unique as it plays with colours and individuals.
(it was really hard to chose just one photo per artist...)
Instagram has become a new space for artists with minimal or no exposure to showcase their works for free. Similarly, it has become a space for established artists to promote themselves as well. These works are further exhibited on a broader scale as social media crosses geographical borders. They continue and cross professional borders, as cultural institutions have increasingly begun to use social media to connect with their publics. The latter may come across the former as social media begins to break accessibility barriers between organizations and artists. These artists are able to use their accounts as aesthetic LinkedIn's to visually advertise themselves.
Social media crosses multiple borders, providing artists with increasing exposure. (Image Source)
Instagram, together with other social media platforms such as Youtube, Flickr, Pinterest, Tumblr and Facebook have intensified the exposure of artists as their work aligns with the purpose of the application. This is exemplified by Instagram being visually-driven, giving visual and photography artists the chance to curate their pages and exhibit their works in ways that reflect their values and interests. Locally, many of these artists have been featured in cultural and social spaces around Toronto and have created specialized niches within the arts and culture community in the city. My heart smiles again.
What do you think? Has Instragram created a good space for creative exposure, connection, and exchange between artists, the community, and cultural institutions?
African Canadian history is equal to African Canadian experience. History is constant, and in order to be relevant, this column will also address contemporary histories. Trust me, you'll love me for it.
Reflecting upon such a diverse community of history and culture in Canada, a focus on experience gives me the freedom to share interesting topics, events, and stories beginning with the Scratch & Mix Project at the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). This past summer, emerging artists from the Black community across the Greater Toronto Area competed in a youth art competition launched by the Michaëlle Jean Foundation. The winners were then given the opportunity to showcase their work at the Scratch & Mix exhibition at the AGO.
I thought that this exhibition would be an excellent entrance into locally revisiting contemporary Black histories. This was a powerful project which brought together members of various communities through art and culture. The individual winners of the competition come from diverse backgrounds with extraordinarily unique talents. Consequently, the exhibition was greatly diverse, not only culturally but artistically and critically. A friend who attended the exhibit summed it up perfectly:
"It was a very diverse exhibit that featured immigrant children from Africa and the Caribbean and addressed themes of love, loss, blackness as a thing we see (i.e skin), colonialism, etc. And it heavily featured the artists' friends and their own lived experiences so it was more of a look inwards (rather than them studying or commenting on another person's Black experience, they focused on their own). At the same time it didn't claim to represent the entirety of all Black experiences/didn't say 'blackness in Canada is this specific thing' making it more authentic in my opinion. It was good! Alhamdulilah!" (Female, 22).
"Outsiders" by winner Olyseye. The piece dismantles the idea of the Black male and his over-representation in contemporary society. (Image Source)
Continuing on the topic that curator Melana Roberts left us with during the interview, I am a supporter of grassroots efforts and collaboration between cultural institutions and the community. Therefore you can imagine how my heart smiled when I learned of the exhibition, its goals, and its partners. The show itself was quite moving, and the artists beautifully communicated profound messages of their own experiences within their communities. Further, it was concurrent with the Jean-Michel Basquait: Now's the Time (my heart is smiling) exhibit at the AGO. Both exhibitions provided the space to address Black experience in two different regional contexts while allowing the visitor to engage with the artistic medium. If you happened to miss the Scratch & Mix exhibition, the project is an ongoing research initiative, and promises future events that focus on the arts as a vehicle of empowering the voices of Black youth.
If you did catch them, I would love to hear what you thought about both the Basquiat: Now's the Time and the Scratch & Mix exhibitions. Comment below!
