InTheBlack: Canada: The Windsor Project

To celebrate our fall season of exhibitions, AWE is proud to present InTheBlack: Canada: The Windsor Project. A vital part of our collection since 2017, this work amplifies the voices, experiences, and perspectives of Black Windsorites, including Angelina Ebegbuzie, Cheryl Baxter, Debbie Remekie, Elise Harding-Davis, Kaitlyn Ellsworth, Klarissa Thompson, Krystyn Thompson, Leslie McCurdy, Lois Larkin, Murray Olbey, Petra Owusu, Sheila Barker, Spurgeon Montague and Wanda Lewis.  

The Windsor Project features participants ranging in age from the mid-20s to the late 80s. And while each voice is distinct, a pattern emerges as participants describe their personal journeys; they speak about overcoming adversity, mourning loss, finding means to empowerment, expressing love for the city of Windsor—and their pride in being Canadian.  

This major work was commissioned by Dr. Kenneth Montague, an art collector and curator based in Toronto, and the founder and director of Wedge Curatorial Projects. In 2017, Dr. Montague partnered with AWE to present Position as Desired: Exploring African Canadian Identity / Photographs from the Wedge Collection. As part of this landmark exhibition, Dr. Montague commissioned InTheBlack:Canada to create this video work in conversation with Black community members in Windsor. Intended to initiate a conversation about the contributions and experiences of Black Canadians during the 2017 Canadian sesquicentennial, this moving work continues to spark conversation and inspire.  

About the artists:  

InTheBlack: Canada, was started by three Black Canadian women Nina Aning, Sonia Godding-Togobo, and Donna Paris who, through their work in media and education, have focused on the experience of being Black Canadian. Together they created two projects – The Web Chronicles (2015), and The Windsor Project (2017), which is now part of the permanent collection of the Art Gallery of Windsor. Though the collective is not currently active, they all continue the work of telling the stories of Black people.