Red dresses mysteriously appear in Toronto

Red dresses are eerily blowing on tree branches in Toronto this week. It's all a bit mysterious until you realize just what they're doing there.

Turns out, they're part of something called the REDress Project, an art installation by Jamie Black meant to bring attention to the 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.

One hundred dresses are currently hanging on trees all over University of Toronto's downtown campus in Hart House Circle, Philosopher’s Walk and areas around Robarts Library.

It couldn't get away from anyone's attention 👗 #uft #reddress #campaign #awareness #remember #rememberance #park #sunnyday #atthepark #inthesun #speakup #beloud #standout #insta #instagram #instamood #instagood #instagramer #uoft #installation #artinstallation

A post shared by Natalia Lysenko (@_natalia_0.0_) on Mar 19, 2017 at 7:06pm PDT

According to Black, there was a creek that used to run beneath Philosopher's Walk that was a gathering and fishing place for Indigenous people.

This is the first time that Black's REDress Project has been seen in Toronto and it's her largest installation yet.

REDress Project honours #MMIW @IndigenousUofT #philosopherswalk #uoft

A post shared by Meredith (@merida40) on Mar 20, 2017 at 4:59am PDT

It first appeared in Winnipeg back in 2010 and is meant to "trigger and provoke reflection and dialogue about the issue of violent crimes against Indigenous women."

At the University of Toronto, hundreds of red dresses are hanging to represent the 12,000 missing and murdered indigenous women. The path these dresses are found on was once a river that indigenous people used for fishing and gathering. Their culture and traditions were quite literally paved over. It was very powerful to walk through this installation

A post shared by Christie Bednarz ™ (@christieann24) on Mar 19, 2017 at 1:12pm PDT

Black is in Toronto as a guest artist in residence at the University of Toronto. Her residency will also include film screenings, lectures and performances. It will culminate with a final performance at Philosopher's Walk this Wednesday.

Correction: This post has been edited to reflect that this project aims to bring awareness to the 1,200 missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada.