TORONTO.- The Gardiner Museum presents the Canadian debut of Cannupa Hanska Luger: Every One & Kali Spitzer: Sister, an installation that brings visibility to the crisis surrounding murdered and missing Indigenous women, girls, trans, and queer community members.
Made up of over 4,000 clay beads created by hundreds of communities across the United States and Canada in response to artist Cannupa Hanksa Lugers call to action shared over social media, Every One (2018) re-humanizes the large and abstract data of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, queer, and trans community members by representing each life with a handmade object.
The object is the echo of the impact, it is what remains after many people have worked with their hands in a collective action of healing and solidarity. While honoring the lives lost, the work also celebrates the effort it takes to collectively affect change, said Luger
In addition to drawing on the research of the Native Womens Association of Canada, Luger embeds a queer and trans narrative into Every One, bringing awareness to the fact that Indigenous LGBTQ+ community members are not included in data collection around this issue despite being impacted at comparably alarming rates.
The narrative of MMIWQT expands beyond a specific region, and by acknowledging this number and this place and by creating collectively, we can move forward to address MMIWQT in all of our respective homelands, to raise awareness and cultivate policy, said Luger.
The beads have been fired, stained with ink, and strung together to form a monumental ceramic installation; the pixelated image references and stands in solidarity with Kali Spitzers photograph Sister (2016). Both works are on display in lobby of the Gardiner accompanied by artifacts and photographs documenting the creation of Every One.
Displaying Sister and Every One in so-called canada is very meaningful because the statistics that we have worked from are those from canada. As an indigenous womxn from canada, to bring this work here and at this moment is timely, said Spitzer. The MMIW Inquiry concluded in June of this year that violence against women, girls, queer, and trans people is a genocide, and yet many canadians are unaware of the issue. The pieces are in relation to each other and important to see together, they hold space for each other and reflect one and other. It is important to me that the peoples of this land that are so deeply affected by this genocide are able to be around the works, because it is for them.
On June 3, 2019, the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls released their final report titled Reclaiming Power and Place: The Final Report of the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. They concluded, among other findings, that the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women, girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA people are marked by indifference, and that prejudice and stereotypes about these groups negatively influence police investigations.
In Canada, statistics reveal that Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or missing than any other women in Canada. Taken as a whole, the research, recommendations, and personal testimonies form a picture of ongoing Indigenous genocide in Canada.
Visitors will encounter Cannupa Hanska Luger and Kali Spitzers beautiful and powerful works immediately upon entering the Museum. They speak to an ongoing crisis that we must acknowledge, reflect on, and take responsibility for, said Sequoia Miller, Chief Curator at the Gardiner Museum. Every One also demonstrates how the act of working with clay and feeling the earth move between our fingers can promote healing. We are honoured to have these works at the Gardiner and encourage visitors to engage with them directly.