How can statues of Black leaders impact anti-Black racism and perceptions of Black communities by non-Black communities?

BY PAUL JUNOR

Ogo Tawa has been making a powerful and impactful influence on the Black Canadian and global scene since it was formed in 2019.

According to the non-profit organization’s website: www.ogotawa.ca, “The Ogo Tawa team helps gifted, underrepresented underserved, underemployed artists of African descent apply their artistic talents to enhance their financial security and provide better lives for themselves, their communities, and their families by providing them platforms where they can showcase and sell their creative works.”

It has an overarching vision to be inclusive, supportive, and proactive in helping Black creatives both locally and globally. Its vision, “Is to foster a greater understanding and appreciation of the contribution that African descendants have made to world heritage past and present as well as to connect cultures and societies through art.”

Khalidah Aderonke Bello, who serves as its chief executive officer, founded Ogo Tawa. Ogo Tawa is a distinctive name, and to those outside Nigeria it will give nothing away about what the social organization does. It translates to ‘Our pride’ in the Yoruba language. As a social justice organization, it recognizes that “Art has the symbolic power to define the narrative of communities and cities,” and “Is on a mission to give artists of African descent the power to tell their stories in public spaces.”

For Khalidah, “Having our art, our history, displayed in public is about having our identity respected, valued, and embraced. This is particularly important for a city like Toronto, with a city motto of Diversity Our Strength.” It was with this mission in mind that Ogo Tawa hosted a two-day event on Saturday, March 26^th,2022, and Sunday, March 27^th, 2022, which featured: fascinating art talk, illuminating African artistic presentations, and engaging community conversations to explore what it would take to bring bronze statues of Black Canadian leaders to public spaces in Canada.

The first day featured multidisciplinary artist Quentin Vercetty who shared that there are only 17 existing public Black statues in Canada. There were contributions by Dr Jean Augustine and Dalton Higgins. The second day was hosted by Kevin Carrington and featured a presentation by Artworx TO one of the supporters of the event who highlighted the importance of public art in the Toronto scene.

There was a presentation by Dali Tambo (CEO of NHPC) and Sarah Hines from South Africa about 100 public monuments that are part of the Long March to Freedom exhibit. There was an empowering community dialogue hosted by Charmaine Headley and Gwyn Chapman with six discussion questions. Questions included: Why does this matter to you? How can statues of Black leaders impact anti-Black racism and perceptions of Black communities by non-Black communities?

There were many questions raised about the importance of Black representation in public spaces, how best to get public input, obtain funding, identify Black artists, and what criteria to use to decide how Black leaders would be identified. The day wrapped up with an Augmented Reality Experience that brought Black arts and statues to the participants to the events.

Clearly, this is the start of an important conversation that will be part of an ongoing process that will continue to explore ways to honour the significant contributions of Black leaders and trailblazers in Canada who made this country great.