Reframing society’s views of “difference”

A whiteboard graphic showing guiding principles for Prof. Rice's work

By Mya Kidson

Eugenics –- that is, race improvement through heredity – has continued to be practiced in Western societies through forced sterilization of Indigenous women and forced assisted suicides for those deemed disabled or “non-vital.” These abhorrent ideas have also surfaced in the wake of the current COVID-19 crisis, through the treatment of seniors and disabled people – those who our society may consider more expendable.  

University of Guelph researchers, along with community partners, are doing their part to transform the way society sees those with differences. They’re reframing our culture through the cultivation and sharing of what’s called “activist art” –- art created by artists and community members from these groups to assert the vitality and creativity of those who have all too often been treated as non-vital.

Prof. Carla Rice, Canada Research Chair, is leading this effort. She’s the founder of the Re•Vision Centre for Art & Social Justice in the College of Social and Applied Human Sciences, and Principal Investigator of Bodies in Translation: Activist Art, Technology, and Access to Life.

Rice and her research team conceptualized Bodies in Translation to look at how to promote inclusion while encouraging discussion and collaboration across difference through activist art.

This research promotes the evolution of multi-sensory art to improve access for all, enable individuals to share lived experiences through art and allow a wider public to attune to difference and begin to find common ground. This broad group includes all people that our culture defines as outside what it imagines the human standard to be, such as those labeled fat, autistic, physically disabled, developmentally disabled, d/Deaf or blind, living with a mental or learning disability, trans and gender non-conforming people, those who are aging or old, and more.

Rice says this approach creates an inclusive environment in and beyond the arts.

“We look at how we can involve everyone by changing the way people think about differences and translating that into equitable treatment,” says Rice.

For example, activist art enables audiences to come closer to and develop a deeper understanding of those with the lived experiences showcased in a creative way by individual artists. Lived experiences are vast, varying from individual to individual. They reveal some of the disturbing and brutal ways groups such as Indigenous peoples have been treated both throughout history and in the current day.

“For a long time, Indigenous peoples were considered non-vital by Western society,” says Rice. “Various practices such as institutionalization via residential schools and sterilization have been used to try to eradicate Indigenous peoples and their languages and cultures. These practices tried to erase freedom of expression for many.”

Rice says the voices that have been unattended to need to be registered and amplified – and art is a way to elevate those conversations to connect with people broadly. Creative expression can enable people to learn from these groups’ experiences.

Last fall and winter,  BIT hosted an award-winning exhibition (Lieutenant-Governor Award for Conservation Excellence) exhibition at the Guelph Civic Museum entitled, Into the Light: Eugenics and Education in Southern Ontario.

Into the Light was co-curated by Mona Stonefish (the project and BIT’s Elder, an Anishinaabe artist, and Traditional Knowledge Keeper), Peter Park (co-founder of Respecting Rights, and founder of People First), Dolleen Tisawii’ashii Manning (an Anishinaabe contemporary artist, philosopher, and Assistant Professor in Indigenous Education & Pedagogy, York University), Evadne Kelly (project lead, Postdoctoral Fellow, dancer, and dance and performance studies scholar), Seika Boye (a scholar, writer, educator, and dancer at the Centre for Drama, Theatre and Performance Studies, University of Toronto), and Sky Stonefish (an Anishinaabe jingle dress dancer, photographer, and activist).

The exhibition included key collaborations from Rice and members of BIT at Re•Vision, Dawn Owen of the Guelph Civic Museum, and Sue Hutton of Respecting Rights, a project of ARCH Disability Law Centre.

At the centre of the exhibit were the lived experiences and histories of eugenics told through the stories of survivors. It also featured evidence of the legacy of eugenics in education at the University of Guelph and included University archives discovered by co-curator Evadne Kelly. 

BIT’s research is not confined to gallery settings. It has also disseminated this research through its website, videos, events (such as “Cripping the Arts”), blog articles and newsletters.

Rice says increasing our awareness of access through art can encourage a broader understanding of how accessibility can be demonstrated in various practices – this includes creating belonging and solidarity in education, workplaces, and in our everyday lives. Changing mindsets through art in order to increase accessibility can break down the barriers that segregate individuals from the rest of society.

“Projects that stem from BIT all intersect at the idea of manifesting access,” says Rice. “Bringing attention to under-represented communities through art mobilizes knowledge held by these groups and increases understanding among those in privileged groups, enabling a more equal playing field upon which the idea of ‘non-vital’ is eradicated.”

This research is funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.