A Rose for Remembrance
Unveiling her exhibition A Rose for Remembrance / Una Rosa Para Recordar in the Ledge Gallery at Arts Commons this month, Claudia Chagoya is deeply interested in gender dynamics and how they impact culture and belonging. In her piece, she examines how ingrained, misogynistic assumptions are the root of much of the violence against women, and shares her hope that we can strive for a safer, more inclusive tomorrow.
It is needless to say how the pandemic has affected us in unique and different ways during the past several months. Isolation, fear, anxiety, and grief had become palpable, our woe grows beyond the loss of loved ones, and we all grieve our pre-pandemic lifestyles. We grieve the loss of close contact with one another—hugging, kissing, visiting friends and family. We also grieve our rituals and traditions, or in other words, the lack of them. Our current situation has deprived us of gathering and relying on the support of our communities, something much needed in this time of bereavement.
Furthermore, the current situation has exposed and exacerbated social and political problematics around the world. Among these issues is gender violence, which has increased exponentially during the pandemic. The Canadian Women’s Foundation website states that “the Ontario Association of Interval and Transition Houses says 20 percent of the 70 shelters it represents have had increased crisis calls, and some police services are noticing more domestic violence reports” (“Why is the covid-19 pandemic,” 2020). Feminicide, which is the killing of women and girls because of their gender, is a pandemic of another kind in Mexico, with an estimate of 11 women murdered every day in 2020 (Youkee, 2021). By contrast, in Canada in that same year, 155 women were murdered and 23 of them identified as Indigenous (Amin & Bond, 2021).
A Rose for Remembrance, my current artistic project, is a flower offering to murdered women, girls, transgender women, Two-Spirit People, and people who identified as female. The artwork consists of pink rose petals individually encased in resin, each containing a name and dates carefully incised on them. The circular transparent resin encasings hold the fragile petals and hang from the ceiling of the Ledge Gallery, visible from the +15 corridor at the Arts Commons building. Upon a closer inspection, the viewer can perceive the slight movement of the artwork, activated by the wind currents of people approaching it. As if demanding the attention of visitors, the installation dances along with the spectator.
This body of work was born out of the need to heal collective wounds caused by gender violence, and the negligence of the authorities that hinder the resolution of these cases. A Rose for Remembrance aims to commemorate their lives and create community between bereaved families. The project also seeks to create a dialogue about the cases of Feminicide in Mexico and the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People (MMIWG2S) in Canada. Both issues are evidence of how prevalent and pervasive gender violence is an ongoing problem without borders. It is worth mentioning that while each context has its own particular and unique issues, it is essential to find connections between communities experiencing this kind of gender violence in order to build supportive relations and cross-cultural understanding between them.
A Rose for Remembrance will be on display from October 8, 2021 until January 23, 2022 in the Ledge Gallery in Arts Commons as part of the RBC Emerging Visual Artist Program. During this time, the community is invited to participate in this project by sharing the name of a loved one whose life has been cut short due to gender violence. To participate family members and/or individuals are invited to share:
Name of the person they want to commemorate.
Relevant date(s) such as birth, death, or another that they deem relevant.
Fond memory or short story about their loved one.
You can learn more about the project and access the form to submit the name of your loved one at: www.claudiachagoya.com/open-call.
A Rose for Remembrance’s call for names aims to collect 100 names before January 23, 2022. Participating families/individuals will receive an encapsulated petal with the name and dates of their relative or friend who was a victim of femicide.
Furthermore, on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, we will host a blessing ceremony and talk about MMIWG2S led by Cheryle Chagnon-Greyeyes. Cheryle is a Traditional Knowledge Keeper from the Muskeg Lake Cree Nation; she is an activist and spokesperson who advocates for justice for the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two-Spirit People. The blessing ceremony and talk will take place at the Ledge Gallery and will be broadcasted live through my Instagram account @claudiachagoya.art (Time TBA). The aim of this event is to raise awareness of the gender violence that the Indigenous community experiences in Canada. As well as to commemorate the lives of people who have been taken away too soon.
To conclude this message, I would like to thank and acknowledge the support and guidance of Cheryle throughout the development of this project and her kindness and willingness to share her knowledge with me. I would also like to take this opportunity to acknowledge that A Rose for Remembrance was developed on the traditional territories of the Blackfoot Confederacy (Siksika, Kainai, Piikani), the Tsuut’ina, the Stoney Nakoda Nations, the Métis Nation Region 3, and all people who make their homes in the Treaty 7 region of Southern Alberta.
References:
1. Amin F., & Bond M. (2021, March 19). Systemic inaction in tackling the deaths and disappearances of Indigenous women, girls and the gender-diverse. City News Everywhere. https://toronto.citynews.ca/2021/03/19/mmiwg2s-family-violence/
2. Why is the Covid-19 Pandemic linked to more gender-based violence? (2020, April 9). Canadian Women’s Foundation. Retrieved September 23, 2021, from https://canadianwomen.org/blog/covid-19-pandemic-gender-based-violence
3. Youkee, M. (2021, March 9). Violence against women in Mexico rises. Fair Observer. https://www.fairobserver.com/region/latin_america/mat-youkee-violence-against-mexican-women-mexico-femicide-coronavirus-lockdown-world-news-60178
