round two - fall submissions
Artists & Storytellers
Proposal submission deadline September 1, 2016
The Myths of Multiculturalism .... a collaborative poster series
Toronto has a reputation as
“the most multicultural city in the world”. Through graphic art we want
to ask, What does this actually mean for people living in the city? How
is it that there is then heightened systemic violence towards
Indigenous and Black people? How is it that Canada enjoys a reputation
of prosperity while occupying native land, and while so many of those
immigrate and migrate here have the door to that prosperity shut in
their face? How is it that racism, police brutality, poverty and sexual
violence disproportionately affect these
communities?
Police say "Toronto is a safe city". Yet we see an increasingly vicious attitude that racialized
people don't count as "Canadians", for instance when white people tell
Muslims to "go back home" and when Stephen Harper speaks of "Old Stock
Canadians".
At the same time we
see the City full of places where multiculturalism is appropriated and
marketed as trendy 'otherness'...when white rappers top the charts while
ignoring anti-Black racism; or when non-natives feel they can hang an
Urban Outfitters dream catcher in their window but don't feel like
supporting Native people in their political struggles. Internationally
Canada boasts of
being a safe haven and land of opportunity while its resource extraction
industries are poisoning the drinking water of First Nations
communities. Multiculturalism
is convenient for big box grocery stores only as far as the "ethnic"
food aisle extends, or for the City to advertise its "ethnic"
restaurants and neighbourhoods, while in reality lack of food access is a
problem in some of the most "multicultural" communities. How to expose
and challenge this selective profiting off multiculturalism? How to break down the targeted racism that the myth of
liberal multiculturalism perpetrates?
Let's
challenge and change these myths. Let's team up artists and
storytellers to re-map the narratives of this city and create a poster series that
reflects histories and realities that are often erased by the
whitewashing of art and history.
About us
We are two Toronto based artists who have been grappling with finding a
role to play in changing the mainstream narrative of Canadian
multiculturalism. Much of
our formation as political artists is thanks to the
Beehive Design Collective, " a wildly motivated, activist arts collective dedicated to
“cross-pollinating the grassroots” by creating collaborative,
anti-copyright images for use as educational and organizing tools. We
work as word-to-image translators of complex global stories, shared with
us through conversations with affected communities.” This project is also inspired by the amazing poster series
that have been collaboratively produced by
Convergencia Grafica and
others.
Support
The financial
support for printing this poster series will come
from local Beehive fundraising efforts over the past three years in
Toronto, and any future fundraising we can organize depending on our
needs. There is no artist's fee available for participating artists / storytellers. As
facilitators we will organize accessible meeting space for contributors
to come together and share ideas. As two white artists
bringing forward this call for proposals, we are aware of our privileged
position particularly
in being able to work voluntarily to coordinate the poster series. We would like to act as facilitators, gathering
resources to make this project happen. We are grateful for any
suggestions about how to support your participation in the project.
Guidelines
This callout is specifically using colonial terms such as Toronto and
Canada because they are embedded in the myth of multiculturalism. We
recognize that we are on stolen native land. The general lack of
acknowledgement of this ongoing fact is where the myth of Canada begins.
"Toronto" is traditionally the shared territory of the Haudenosaunee,
Huron-Wendat and Mississaugas of New Credit/ Anishnaabe. It is also
known under different terms, The Gathering Place, the Meeting Place, the
Place of Many or Place of Plenty, Ktaronto (see below for some links on
this) among others. We encourage you to think about how to name the
place/s represented in your work, but we recommend that you avoid appropriating
language /names from others.
This callout is for (aspiring) artists AND story tellers! if you are
both, amazing! If not, we want to encourage this process to be
collaborative, so tag teaming with someone else is great. Maybe your
grandmother has an incredible story to tell and you would like to
illustrate that story, for example. Maybe you have a story to share but
would prefer to have someone else illustrate it. Get in touch, let us
know what you need and we can help match you up :)
Proposal deadline: September 1, 2016
Deadline for completed work: October 15, 2016
Fill out the form to make a proposal here
For graphics and storytelling:
1. The story/poster must relate to the GTA, be site specific
or locally based. We want your story/design to be
architecturally, geographically, or ecologically connected to Toronto
because there
is such a strong history of people’s stories and struggles to shine a
light on through these posters. We hope this callout inspires
stories/graphics that record histories and images that colonization and
gentrification purposefully erase.
2. The story/poster must be connected to the
storyteller/artist’s own history, to avoid
people speaking on behalf of other people’s histories, and to "own"
their own stories. Collaboration is encouraged! Through inviting
storytellers to participate, we hope to broaden what we usually see as
those who make art.
Specifics for poster:
-dimensions: 11"x17" / 28 x 43 cm
-colours: only two colours please (black ink + one other ink)
-the whole series will be anti-copyright
-must be hand made or include a hand made component
-format for submission: either digital high resolution, 300dpi file, or paper copy (all originals will be returned)
Graphic selection, production & distribution:
All images contributed will be posted on-line. Our
goal is to print 8 posters (and possibly more). If more than 8 pieces
are produced, all contributors will be asked to vote for those pieces they
want to see in print. All of the contributions will be exhibited before the print run of the poster series.
A portion of the printed series will be given to each contributor whose piece is selected for print;
a
portion will be distributed by the facilitators for donation to help cover
printing costs;
a portion will be set-aside for wheat-pasting and other
modes of public display.
round two timeline (2016):
September 1st: deadline for proposal - please contact us with your idea and
interest in participating. Sketches and designs are welcome at this
time!
August, September & October: meetings to share ideas and feedback on work in progress
Click here to send a proposal, or feel free to contact us with any questions!
Contact: mythsofmulticulturalism (AT) gmail (DOT) com
share the callout on facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/mythsofmulticulturalism
Looking forward to hearing from you!
In solidarity,
-Renée and Lara
Some useful links:
Canadian Cities Rooted In Traditional Indigenous Territories
Toronto Is An Iroquois Word
First Story Toronto
is a great blog and walking tour app that has been around over 10 years
now, sharing many of these stories, as one of many resources out there.
image credit: quilt "Big Bright Pixels" by Lorrie Cranor used with permission
