Black Artists' Network Dialogue photo exhibit showcases Black women in leadership
December 20, 2022
Artists rely on the expressive possibilities of the hand to represent emotions, identities, conflict and collaboration.
No wonder Charmaine Headley and Sandra Whiting’s use of the most frequently symbolized part of the human body to express themselves in their photographs on display in the Black Women in Leadership exhibition at the Toronto Archives draws attention.
“When I saw that, I hit up Sandra, telling her how much I love her tableau,” said Headley who co-founded the Collective of Black Artists (COBA) and has a graduate degree in Dance Ethnography from York University. “Dance, which is my medium, has a lot of movement. I am relatively expressive, even in the way I speak and I move my arms when I do that. Also, we should have more joy as we get older.”
Conceptualized in 2019 and focused on addressing the gap of influential Black women leaders in archives and public, the exhibition is rooted in Black pride and the exploration of the professional portrait-making process.
The exhibit features 40 female Black leaders.
“I am just honoured to be chosen and feeling blessed to be among the eclectic group of women,” said Headley who is a School of Toronto Dance Theatre graduate.
Creativity runs in her family
Twin brothers Omowale and Sundiata Stewart are visual artists based in Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago respectively while younger brother David Headley is a percussionist.
Charmaine Headley (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Headley credits Muriel Stewart-Headley for their creativity.
The family matriarch passed away in Barbados last year at age 97.
“We all got something from our mother,” the accomplished choreographer pointed out. “She taught Art and English in Barbados where I was raised and helped Omowale make costumes.”
Toronto-based emerging photographers Janice Reid, Jon Blak, Leyla Jeyte and Patricia Ellah were chosen for the project co-ordinated by BAND (Black Artists’ Network Dialogue).
A Humber College Creative Photography graduate, Reid’s work focusses on telling stories of Black women to re-imagine and create the narratives, Blak’s work examines issues around class, race and cultural production to celebrate the impact of community, Jeyte is a visual artist who completed a residency at the Robert McLaughlin Gallery in Oshawa and Ellah graduated from the Parsons School of Design with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
“What I love is that this project involves BAND and they are encouraging young photographers to learn more about African Canadian history that is not well documented, while honing their skills in a welcoming environment,” said Janice Gairey, a fifth generation African Canadian, who is featured in the exhibit.
Janice Gairey (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Her descendants – brothers William and John Holland -- escaped slavery in Montgomery County in Maryland to Ontario through the Underground Railroad in 1860. John was a railway porter for 33 years and pastor at the historic Stewart Memorial Church in Hamilton.
Gairey’s parents were activists in the Black community.
Desmond Davis, who died in 1958, co-founded the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, and Norma Bette Toliver, who passed away in 1989, was a member of the Canadian Negro Women’s Club established in 1951 to empower Black women.
It is not surprising, therefore, that Gairey followed her parents’ footsteps.
As a labour activist and union organizer for nearly four decades, she was an Ontario Federation of Labour Human Rights Director for 11 years and President of the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists (Ontario chapter).
Sarah Edo, who is in BAND’s curatorial residency program, and Belinda Uwase curated the exhibit that will be on display until August 2023.
Sarah Edo (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
“As someone who wants to get into curation without an Art History degree, I was excited to be offered the opportunity to be part of this project,” said Edo who holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors) in Cinema and Women & Gender Studies and a Master’s in Women & Gender Studies from the University of Toronto. “I love art and have a deep appreciation for it. This is just a glimpse of some of the high achievers. The hope is to have this expanded with more unsung heroes.”
Uwase was BAND’s first curatorial residency program graduate in 2020.
Belinda Uwase (Photo by Ron Fanfair)
Born in Rwanda and raised in the Netherlands before coming to Edmonton about 10 years ago, she held volunteer roles with the Art Gallery of Alberta and YEGTheComeUp – a youth-led Black organization – where she led the Arts & Culture Task Force.
“On my mother’s side, I have a lot of family who are in the arts,” she said. “I have always been surrounded by these people who were my inspirations. I embraced curation because of my passion for arts and creativity and doing the research and critical thinking aspect through writing curatorial statements and understanding history and how different mediums can be interpreted.”
BAND co-founder Karen Carter said the women represented in the exhibit are exemplary leaders who serve as reminders that the path to success for everyone can be vastly different.
“For us at BAND, this project is about women who have been in the trenches and have done some really amazing things,” she noted. “I would not be here had it not been for the work many of these sisters have done. This is an opportunity to honour and celebrate Black women while respecting them for the work they have done.
“Representation allows us to appreciate both the diversity and complexity of the past and the potential of our futures. Black women are not a monolith and neither are their stories. The medium of portrait photography has an especially rich and nuanced place in art history.”
Karen Carter (Photo contributed)
The young photographers, Carter said, were chosen based on BAND’s experience with them.
‘We showcase emerging artists who are trying to build their careers and we realize that not a lot of them have studio experience,” the former City of Toronto Museum Administrator and Heritage Toronto Executive Director said.
BAND is requesting names be submitted to info@bandgallery.com for consideration to be included in the exhibit that will be expanded.
“For far too long, we have focused on the same people that everyone knows,” said Carter. “We need to do the work and show the bigger picture.”
