Photos: Tiffany Shum
To commemorate Black History Month, the photography and digital art exhibit Us. Here. Now. is being displayed at Toronto’s Union Station, and runs until the end of February.
Us. Here. Now. is a photography and digital art exhibit curated by Wan Lucas, that combines the mediums of photography and digital art with the theme of “connections” to highlight the plethora of talented multi-disciplinary artists and unique personalities from within Toronto’s black community.
Us. Here. Now – is a group photography exhibit in the West Wing that features original photography by SoTeeOh, Gillian Mapp, and Brianna Roye, showcasing notable Black Torontonians from different neighborhoods throughout the GTA. Each subject’s photo was taken in a place that holds special meaning to them and their work.
The exhibit displays the breadth of the black arts experience in Toronto, through the wide range of community subjects it documents; from dancer/choreographers (Esie Mensah), curators (Ashley McKenzie Barnes), wordsmiths (Ian Kamau), fashion designers (Adrian Aitcheson), DJ’s (Bambii), musicians (Just John, Witch Prophet), comedians (Kenny Robinson), filmmakers (Charles Officer) and visual artists (Michelle Pearson Clarke), all the way over to theatre directors (Weyni Mengesha), jewelry makers (Asia Clarke), literary entrepreneurs (Miguel San Vicente + Itah Sadu), and photographers (Yasin Osman) like themselves.
A Thousand Paths Home is a presentation of the work of Yung Yemi in the Oak Room, commissioned for Union’s Connection exhibit, featuring digital art interpretations of the late Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond, alonsgide select Afro-futurist icons Erykah Badu, Janelle Monae and Lauryn Hill.
Yemi adopted the aesthetic of Afrofuturism, that borrows from pop culture, African adornment, and science fiction to cast these contemporary artists alongside a much revered Canadian historical figure.
For more on the exhibits, please visit: https://torontounion.ca/event/us-here-now-thousand-paths-home-19