Montreal street art highlights Indigenous community

A Montreal Indigenous street art project hosted its second installation. It showcases 50 Indigenous community members and their stories of forced displacement.

The Inside Out Project, founded by French photographer and street artist JR, has over 2,000 group actions around the world in 138 countries. 

Nakuset, project team leader for the Indigenous Forced Displacement Project, says three photographers each took about 17 photos of people they work with: Martin Loft who took photos in Kahnawake, Vicki MacDonald who took photographs around Cabot square, and Craig Commanda, who photographed students and teachers.

“While Indigenous communities in the Montreal area are diverse, each with their own specific experiences related to the effects of colonization, all have been impacted by historical and contemporary forced displacement. Dispossessed of their ancestral lands, forced to leave their communities to access health care and education and continually required to defend their territory from further encroachment and exploitation, displacement continues to impact Indigenous people throughout Tiohtià:ke.”

READ MORE: Street art highlights Montreal’s Indigenous community

Monday’s postering event was at MIND school in downtown Montreal (4563 St-Urbain), with another event at a building near the Jean-Talon market.

MIND students helped poster during February’s first event, and the high school offered their space for the March installment with their students helping put up 15 photographs. Students will also be printing out words as titles, like: strong, proud, Indigenous, resilient, resistance – so when people are walking, they will be able to recognize them.

“It’s action participatory, so I love the fact that we have all these great volunteers that came and we are educating the next generation,” said Nakuset.

They are looking for more buildings to poster for third instillation next month. “Part of the solution is empowering Indigenous. Offer us a building. All we’re going to do is glue up some beautiful portraits, so it’s a win win.”

If you have a building to offer, contact Nakuset: Indigenous Forced Displacement.