Resistance. Resilience. Revolution.

Credit: ‘Black Power’, 2018. Photography by Janice Reid.

Weaving the narratives of radical older Black women, this exhibition highlights and resists the way this group is often excluded and unacknowledged. Each artist’s story unfolds through various artforms, to translate the struggles of aging and staying relevant in a youth-obsessed world.

“Black women are often overlooked in people’s conversations about racism and sexism even though they face a unique combination of both of these forms of discrimination simultaneously. This ‘intersectional invisibility’ means that movements that are supposed to help Black women may be contributing to their marginalization,” according to lead researcher Stewart Coles, a PhD candidate at the University of Michigan.

It is time to honour Black women who have made great impact in our communities. ‘Resistance. Resilience. Revolution.’ is a multi-disciplinary project that celebrates lesser known sheroes by exploring their contributions to Toronto’s marginalized communities. Weaving the narratives of their voices, perspectives, grassroots organizing, and leadership, each story unfolds through different artistic disciplines.

Lillian Allen
Gloria C. Swain
Janice Reid

Lillian Allen is a poet, writer, performer, and activist and has played a key role in transforming the Toronto and Canadian cultural landscape. A two-time JUNO Award winner and trailblazer in the field of spoken word and dub poetry, Allen artistically explores the aesthetics of old and new sounds in music to create her distinctive style. Termed a ‘cultural de-programmer’ in the arts, she has received numerous accolades and awards, including The Toronto Cultural Champions Award, The Margo Bindhardt Award, and the William P Hubbard Award for Race Relations.

Facebook: Lillian Allen
Twitter: @LillianAllenDub

Gloria C Swain is a multidisciplinary artist and curator, working within painting, photography, installation, and performance. With a heightened awareness of the erasure of Black experiences and histories, Swain’s work is rooted in her activism and her deep desire to highlight issues of systematic discrimination, specifically racism, sexism, classism, and ageism. Gloria’s work has been exhibited throughout the city, including at Tangled Art Gallery, BAND Gallery, and the Gladstone Hotel.

Instagram: @gloria_c_swain_artist

Janice Reid is a photographer who grew up in Toronto’s Jane and Finch neighbourhood. Her love for photography started in the high school’s darkroom, and she went on to receive her diploma in creative photography from Humber College. Janice’s practice explores themes of sisterhood, womanism and Black women as modern-day muses. Her work focuses on telling the stories of Black women to re-imagine and re-create these narratives. Janice’s work has been exhibited at BAND Gallery, PAMA, the Gladstone Hotel and has been featured in Breakfast Television.

Instagram: @janice.reid

Artist Talk

Resistance. Resilience. Revolution. is presented in partnership with Myseum of Toronto as part of Myseum Intersections 2022. This project is led by Gloria C. Swain with contributions from Lillian Allen and Janice Reid, and with the support of Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue (BAND), NIA Centre for the Arts, and Ontario Arts Council.

Gloria C Swain is a multidisciplinary artist and curator, working within painting, photography, installation, and performance. With a heightened awareness of the erasure of Black experiences and histories, Swain’s work is rooted in her activism and her deep desire to highlight issues of systematic discrimination, specifically racism, sexism, classism, and ageism. Gloria’s work has been exhibited throughout the city, including at Tangled Art Gallery, BAND Gallery, and the Gladstone Hotel.

https://glcarissa.tumblr.com/
Instagram: @gloria_c_swain_artist and @gloria_c_swain
Twitter: @gloriaswain1956

Black Artists’ Network in Dialogue (BAND)

NIA Centre for the Arts

Ontario Arts Council

Myseum Intersections 2022 is funded by the Government of Canada.

Myseum of Toronto is made possible with the generous support of Diane Blake and Stephen Smith.