‘One Who Protects a Sibling’ is an OCAD University project in which pairs of Indigenous and Black makers exhibit the mediated objects and experiences that reflect the dialogues about each other’s identities, aesthetics, and relations to the land.

Race relations in Canada are often viewed through the prism of Indigenous/European settler binaries. ‘One Who Protects a Sibling’ seeks to shift focus to explore Indigenous and Black relations through the direct personal connections between pairs of OCAD University Indigenous and Black students (Emily Kewageshig, Star Nahwegahbo, Bert Pringle, Renee Loeza Goycochea, Adé Abegunde and Aljumaine Gayle,) as well as the project facilitators, Jason Baerg [Cree Métis] and Dori Tunstall [African American].

Each set of partners co-creates through dialogue mediated objects and/or experiences that provide deep cultural and emotional protection for each other. Through the co-designs, the design partners explore the history of Indigenous and Black relations in Canada, the shared conditions of marginalization that affect both communities, and issues of appropriation and misappropriation between the two communities. Starting with each community’s relationship to the land, the design partners speculate on future relations between Indigenous and Black communities.

Image #1: One Who Protects a Sibling Project Group Portrait
Top row L to R: Dori Tunstall, Renee Loeza Goycochea, Emily Kewageshig, Star Nahwegahbo, and Jason Baerg
Bottom row L to R: Adé Abegunde, Bert Pringle, and Aljumaine Gayle
Photo credit: Brian Martin
Photo Design by Dori Tunstall

Participants

Adé Abegunde, Jason Baerg, Aljumaine Gayle, Renee Loeza Goycochea, Emily Kewageshig, Star Nahwegahbo, Bert Pringle, Dori Tunstall