Located above the pathways of Toronto?s Allan Gardens, 15 female-identifying artists have created an exhibit that represents an expression of inclusion, resiliency, healing and self-determination.
Red Embers honours the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and 2SLGBTQQIA, with 13 large-scale banners using animal bones, beads, tin jingles, reflective fabric or moose hide.
The installation consist of charred wooden gates standing 20 feet tall, constructed from local Eastern Cedar poles. At the top, a cedar beam holds each of the 13 red canvas banners, which represent the 13 Grandmother moons within the Lunar System.
The project?s artists include: Annie Beach; Kristen Auger & Adrienne Greyeyes; Sara Biscarra Dilley; Hillary Brighthill; Hannah Claus; Rosalie Favell; Lindsey Lickers; Lido Pimienta; Eladia Smoke & Larissa Roque; Louise Solomon; Rolande Souliere; Catherine Tammaro, and Janelle Wawia. ?I feel that the design of Toronto is very patriarchal. This is public art made entirely by acclaimed and emerging women artists that is supported by women,? said Tiffany Creyke, curator responsible for commissioning the artists, and one of the three Red Embers? designers. ?I believe it?s a first for Canada. We are bringing our own chairs to the table and projecting ourselves as women into the development of the urban landscape.?

A banner titled ancestors are with us, by Hannah Claus, features silver reflective fabric based on a Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) skirt. Claus...