The Honour Project
The Honour Project, launched across Canada on Monday, June 21, 2021, is a National Indigenous Billboard Campaign, featuring original artwork by top Indigenous artists in honour of the first 215 Indigenous children whose remains were recently discovered in a mass grave on the grounds of the Kamloops Indian Residential School in BC, plus in honour of the hundreds of more children whose remains are now, almost weekly, being discovered on or near the grounds of former Indian residential schools, from Manitoba to Saskatchewan, and beyond. These schools were run by churches and the government of Canada, and were created upon the order of the first PM of Canada.
Artwork with titles such as “Honouring the 215” by Musqueam/Tsimshian artist, Chase Gray; “215” by Cree Artist, Betty Albert; and “Prayer for the Children” by Mi’kmaw artist, Shianne Gould, are just some of the powerful images which will be soaring across Canada on digital billboards generously donated by Pattison Outdoor, in cities, over major highways, on monitors and digital wall screens in subway systems, malls, and in transit shelters, until August.
Our goal: To honour these children who were so horrendously treated at the residential schools, to keep their memory alive, to help support the Indigenous community through the power of art and the loving messages of the eight Indigenous artists, and to create further awareness and conversation amongst Canadians nationwide, so that real truth and reconciliation may finally come to bear.
“As the body count began climbing in the days after the first 215 were found, I found myself becoming angry…It takes the bodies of children to wake the country up to the real history of Indigenous people in Canada” explains Ottawa-based watercolour artist, and Governor General Award-winner, Colleen Gray, on her participation in the campaign. “I was inspired to paint my anger, but also to paint the peace and hope I felt at these children reuniting with their ancestors.
“I had to do this painting. It’s the only way I could work through the overwhelming emotions,” says renowned Cree Artist, Betty Albert, about her painting “215″. “I woke up at 1:00 am and I couldn’t sleep. I just felt compelled to paint and the image just came to me without much effort–it sort of painted itself. I think the emotions I was feeling began to form themselves on the canvas. My maternal instinct extended to caress those little souls, love them and free them.”
Artists include: Betty Albert, Colleen Gray, Lee Claremont, Chase Gray, Loretta Gould, Shianne Gould, Jerry Whitehead, Maxine Noel, and Isaac Murdoch
Sponsors
