From Remembrance to Resistance: The Black Lives Matter Memorial Art Exhibition Debuts in Vancouver in Summer 2023 and at the UFV Art Gallery in Fall 2023

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The Black Lives Matter Memorial Project, a significant art exhibition dedicated to honoring lives lost to racial injustice, will be held at Alternatives Gallery in Vancouver from July 26 to August 2, 2023, and will then travel to the S’eliyemetazwtexw Art Gallery in Building B from September 13 to October 11.

The exhibition features powerful artworks by renowned artists including Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware, UFV’s LTA Visual Arts Instructor Toni Latour, Maestro Jason Ikeem Rogers, and Orchestra Noir.

This memorial aims to shed light on the systemic racism that has led to the tragic deaths of Black individuals in both Canada and the United States.  Through art, we have the power to spark empathy, understanding, and fuel the continued fight for justice and change.  The Black Lives Matter Memorial Project invites Vancouverites and the UFV Community to engage with the artwork, learn about the lives cut short, and reflect on the immense loss suffered by Black families and communities.

The project has been three years in the making, and is funded by the Canada Council for the Arts, the B.C. Arts Council, and the Vancouver Biennale.

The exhibition is comprised of three components:

  • The first component showcases ten portrait drawings by Dr. Syrus Marcus Ware, depicting Black individuals who lost their lives at the hands of police. Accompanying each portrait are text panels narrating the person’s life and the circumstances surrounding their death.  The panels are complemented by analog clocks, symbolizing the passage of time, with screens displaying digital life-long clocks counting forward from birth to death and backward from death to birth. This poignant display emphasizes the injustice of lives cut short by racist police forces and the oppressive systems that support them.
  • The second component features black stone slabs engraved with the names, birth and death dates, and ages of over 400 Black people killed by police since 2012.
  • The third component of the exhibition is the video installation titled “Black Elegy.” Maestro Jason Ikeem Rogers, founder of Atlanta-based Orchestra Noir, composed an original piece of music specifically for this project.  The video recording of the performance by his all-Black orchestra, capturing the emotions of the composition, will be on display during the exhibition.

The Black Lives Matter Memorial Project offers free admission to the public, and an opening reception will take place at the Alternatives Gallery in Vancouver on July 29 from 3-5pm.  The reception will feature guest speakers Krystal Paraboo, Renee Austin and Christina Fenton, who will contribute their insights on racial justice and commemoration.

For more information about the artists involved and the project, please visit the following links:

“We are the defenders of the dead.  When we do the work of honouring the dead, we do the work of liberating the living, because we are fighting the injustices that led to those deaths in the first place.” – Janaya the Future, 2020

Exhibition Dates

Alternatives Gallery
1659 Venables St., Vancouver
July 26, 2023 – Aug 2, 2023
Open daily 12-5
Free Admission

July 29 – Opening Reception, 3-6 pm with guest speakers, food and drinks
Free Admission

S’eliyemetazwtexw Art Gallery in Building B, UFV
Sept 13, 2023 – Oct 11, 2023
Oct 11 – Closing, 12-1, food and drinks
Free Admission

For media inquiries and further information, please contact:
Toni Latour
Phone: 604-618-4544
Email: latourtoni@gmail.com