CelebrateHer

CelebrateHer is a feminist portrait series – inspired by interviews with 12 inspiring, publicly nominated women – that explores gender expectations, everyday activism and the visibility and valourization of different kinds of labour. I collaborated with playwright Erin Lindsay and Imago Theatre’s artistic director Micheline Chevrier to create an immersive installation, featuring the 12 large-scale portraits along with an accompanying audio play of these women telling their stories.

Clare Byarugaba is an amazing listener. She asks good questions. She seems willing to see the good in people. (On our day together, she chatted with this loud barista who I thought was being obnoxious and crass – the kind of guy that yells across the room and calls women he doesn’t know “sweetheart.” She was really pleasant with him.) Her demeanour might be related to the fact that she’s the only daughter in the family with 7 brothers! Living in Montreal, walking in the Village, I think it’s easy to forget the struggles of queer peoples around the world. Clare is a great example of someone who does activist work not necessarily because she’s interested in abstract human rights and “politics,” but because she’s interested in her own survival.