Under Occupation
4th Vancouver Biennale, Hinge Park, Vancouver, Canada.
Curated by Natalia Lebedinskaia
In the international political imaginary, Canada is presented as a model state that guarantees the peace and human rights of its citizens. However, within the country, First Nations people continue to face an endangered existence, whose main threat has been the succession of governments in power. Despite the reconciliation treaties, in Canada colonialism is alive and present in the enactment of the Indian Act, the sterilization, the disappearance, and the murder of Indigenous women, and the lack of access to drinking water within the reserves, among other forms of oppression. This is a continuation of the old and ongoing state war for Indigenous land.
National flag of Canada dyed with the blood of First Nations people.
Produced as part of The Vancouver Biennale International Artist Residency Program