News release details
On Tuesday, September 10, a free public event at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights (CMHR) will invite people from around the world to contribute their truths to a large, collaborative mosaic project. Led by Dr. Bruno de Oliveira Jayme, an art educator based at the University of Manitoba, the creative event runs from 7–9 p.m. Open to all, it will feature food, music and conversation about the right to be known.
The right to be known is a growing movement that asks, “What does it mean to tell our own stories and to be seen, heard and recognized?” It’s a question of particular significance for those whose rights have been violated, who have been misrepresented and whose stories have been suppressed. Gatherings have taken place in Chicago to address carceral injustice and in Johannesburg to address what it means to heal post apartheid. The community mosaic event here at the CMHR builds on this movement.
“When people have suffered human rights abuses, they have the right to justice, to legal or economic reparations — but people also need something even more basic,” explains Dr. Shayna Plaut, CMHR’s Director of Research and Collections and lead organizer of this event. “They want a space to say, this is who I am. This is who I am in spite of what’s happened to me, and because of what’s happened to me, this is how I want to be seen, to be known.”
And that, she notes, requires a public forum, a coming together of communities.
This free public event will bring together artists, activists, Elders, youth, educators, thinkers and doers from near and far. “We want as many people as possible to take part in this collective creation,” said Dr. Plaut.
Dr. Bruno de Oliveira Jayme — who has made many such large‐scale murals worldwide — is designing the piece in consultation with Elders. He will take away the painted pieces created at Tuesday’s event and compose a large mosaic. The final piece will belong to all who participated in its making.
WHAT: Free public event to collectively create a mosaic from personal stories
WHEN: Tuesday, September 10, 2024, 7–9 p.m.
WHERE: Bonnie & John Buhler Hall, Level 1, Canadian Museum for Human Rights