Bridge Installation and 16 Days event

[Sorouja Moll]

Hello everyone,


Bridge: Honouring the Lives of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit People has become an annual installation for 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence at the University of Waterloo. Working with the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre, the installation creates a space for all University community members to learn about the crisis as they reflect, write a name on red fabric, and tie it to the bridge between Environment 3 and St. Paul's University College, as a gesture to name and remember the 4,000+ missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, and Two Spirit people in Canada. If you would like your students to participate at any time over the course of the 16 days or would like more information, I would be happy to speak to your class about the project. I've attached my article about the early iterations of the work.


Installation opens

Tuesday, November 27 at 1030am with the opening of the fire (and continues for 16 days)

At Bridge between Environment 3 and St Paul's University College


"Writing Names" began in 2008 in Montreal when I questioned a statistic: "who are you?" and "what have we done?" On the streets of Montreal, I wrote the names of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls who were silenced inside the number. The work is a counter memory that refuses what continues to be elided. Ten years later, "Writing Names" continues at the University of Waterloo and instead of writing the names in chalk, for the past three years red pieces of fabric are used and tied to the St. Paul's bridge. For 16 days people will stop, remember, write, honour, and ask the questions: "what have we done?" and "how can I do better?"


I am grateful to the Waterloo Indigenous Student Centre for all the work they do, the collaboration, and support with this work. Many thanks as well to Sylvia Hannigan and Greg Campbell. One name is too many.


Sincerely,

Sorouja



Sorouja Moll, Ph.D
Definite Term Lecturer
Department of Communication Arts
University of Waterloo
ML 238
Waterloo, Ontario N2L 3G1 Canada
e. smoll at uwaterloo.ca
t. 519.888.4567 x.31985

I acknowledge that I am on the traditional territory of ‎ the Attawandaron (Neutral), Anishnawbe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.
Truth & Reconciliation Response Projects Website<https://uwaterloo.ca/truth-and-reconciliation-response-projects/>


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