OYA Black Arts Coalition joins forces with Nadine Valcin for Our Home On Haunted Land

Toronto (May 12, 2022) OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC)’s award winning creative team joins forces with award winning visual artist, Nadine Valcin for Our Home on Haunted Land, a powerful new large scale, 2D installation exploring the colonial legacy linked to key Toronto landmarks. Our Home on Haunted Land, created by Valcin, along with Priam Givord, is an original Artworks TO presentation, which runs from Friday, May 20 to Sunday, May 22nd, 2022. The installation site, the Canada Malting Silos, is located at Queen’s Quay and Bathurst.

Our Home on Haunted Land consists of a visual journey to reveal hidden histories that haunt us, and makes visible the Black and Indigenous presence on Turtle Island and Tkaronto.  Destinations highlighted include The Gladstone Hotel (and adjacent Gladstone Avenue), Baby Point (Jane and Annette Streets), and Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), and the Mohawk Institute in Brantford, Ontario, a residential school in operation from 1831 to 1970. Originally adapted from a virtual reality project, the installation, which is a prelude to a more in-depth immersive project, features 3D models generated through photogrammetry.

“We look forward to sharing Our Home on Haunted Land with ArtworksTO audiences at a time when we continue to interrogate the legacy of Black and Indigenous stories in our news cycle, and seek truths from our pasts, Ngardy Conteh George, co-founder of  OYA Black Arts Coalition (OBAC).  “The installation images breathe life into buried narratives about names and locations in Toronto and beyond. Working with Nadine and Priam, we created a digital means of delivering some important local history lessons which resonate nationally.”

“It’s amazing how little we know about the history that surrounds us, especially when it comes to how streets and spaces are named. We need to know more about the Indigenous and Black histories since instances like the renaming of Ryerson University and Dundas Street are just the tip of the iceberg,” Nadine Valcin, Co-Creator, Our Home On Haunted Land.

Our Home on Haunted Land event is sponsored by the Waterfront BIA, and is funded through an ArtworxTO grant. The installation will be projected nightly, from 9:00 to 11:00 P.M. on May 20, 21, 22 respectively. Audiences can meet the production team, and catch a live set by DJ Lighter who will be spinning tunes. Food trucks will also be on site with OBAC providing a limited number of complimentary food tickets for attendees.

Our Home on Haunted Land was funded as part of ArtworxTO: Toronto’s Year of Public Art 2021–2022, a year-long celebration of Toronto’s exceptional public art collection and the creative community behind it. Working closely with artists and Toronto’s arts institutions, ArtworxTO is delivering major public art projects and commissions, citywide, from Fall 2021 to Fall 2022. Supporting local artists and new artworks that reflect Toronto’s diversity, ArtworxTO is creating more opportunities for citizens to engage with art in their everyday lives. The City of Toronto invites the public to discover creativity and community–everywhere. Visit artworxTO.ca for full details

SOURCE Konvo Media