The Women on the Wall

Diaspora Dialogues is excited to partner with Nuit Blanche again this year with the installation THE WOMEN ON THE WALL.

This interactive multimedia project invites participants to step into a conversation between members of the Aboriginal community on the issue of violence against Indigenous women and girls. Hear perspectives on the national epidemic of Murdered and Missing Indigenous women and girls in Canada from a range of Indigenous voices and make a personal commitment to ending violence.

Curated by Cherie Dimaline and Gwen Benaway

October 3–4, 2015
Metropolitan United Church
56 Queen Street East
7:00pm–7:00am

Building on the momentum of #aminext and grassroots organizations like Walking With Our Sisters, the multi-sensory The Women on The Wall puts visitors in the middle of a community conversation on Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and offers an opportunity to effect change.

Video Messages from the Indigenous community for our missing and murdered women and girls, and for all Canadians, featuring:

• DEBORAH RICHARDSON: Mother, advocate, Deputy Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Ontario
• SUSAN BLIGHT: Filmmaker, Jingle Dress dancer, language activist
• STEPHANIE PANGOWISH: Singer, dancer, community worker
• GILES BENAWAY: 2-Spirited, community worker, poet
• LEE MARACLE: Elder, Teacher, Author
• JESSE THISTLE: Graduate student, speaker, writer
• WENZDAE BREWSTER: Youth, photographer, Jingle Dress* dancer

Music on video: Smoke Trail Singers, Music throughout exhibit: Stephanie Pangowish

*the Jingle Dress dance is a healing dance and is presented in this context, for the missing and murdered women and girls, whom we miss and honour

This is a projection of some of the names of the known missing and murdered Indigenous women collected through community sources. Sadly, this list is growing and evolving and therefore, should not be considered as a complete or comprehensive document. At last official count, the RCMP’s list totaled 1200 individuals.

A new name will be added to the list every 30 seconds from sundown to sun-up. By the end of the event, we will just be reaching the end of the known names.

UPCOMING EVENTS:
Diaspora Dialogues Road Show
October-November, 2015
Various Locations

A series of cabaret-style events featuring an interdisciplinary mix of artists will tour the GTA, creating connections between artists and audiences from the 905, north Toronto, and downtown Toronto communities.

Venues and local partners: Markham (Varley Art Gallery & Markham Library), Mississauga (Mississauga Art Gallery), Brampton (Sheridan College), and Black Creek (Yorkgate Mall).

Stay up to date on dates and times by following us @ddialogues OR signing up for our newsletter!