Banners placed in a Toronto park in honour of missing and murdered indigenous women

An art installation in Allan Gardens honours missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

The display follows the National Inquiry’s recent findings, which characterized the discrimination and violence Indigenous women and girls have endured in Canada as a genocide.

Indigenous women across the country created the Red Embers art installation to symbolize community resilience.

Red Embers art instillation in Allan Gardens. Photo credit: Allan Gardens. 

The installation is a series of 13 tall black wooden gates throughout the park. The gates have black frames and red interiors to symbolize “wood holding its structural integrity against flames,” the Red Embers website explains.

The 13 installations represent the 13 Grandmother Moons, which lead female life. Women that have experienced sexual abuse look to Grandmother Moon for healing.

Red Embers art instillation in Allan Gardens. Photo credit: Allan Gardens. 

By displaying Indigenous women’s art in the urban core of Toronto, the project displays a “non-hierarchical partnership between Indigenous design principles in the built-environment led by Indigenous women with stakeholders at the City of Toronto, Allan Gardens, the Native Women's Resource Centre of Toronto, and with Friends of Allan Gardens.”

The installation will remain in the park until October 4, 2019