Where She Went, We Thrived

Where She Went, We Thrived explores the magic and tenacity of Black womanhood. They have shaped the world we know today, and this exhibit pays tribute to the tools, strategies and traditions our ancestors wielded for their survival—enabling future generations to succeed. 

Presented in partnership with Harbourfront Centre, three contemporary artists, Apanaki Temitayo M, Christine Nnawuchi, and Yasin Osman, examine the contributions of Black women in our communities.

Viewers are encouraged to reflect on how the past year echoed the traumas of the past, and how Black women, through their labour and life, continue to pave a way forward.

Through the dynamic presentation of textile, porcelain ceramics and photography—prepare to explore the role of the divine, the tools of the ancestors, and the ways in which these gifts and enduring strategies for survival have persisted.

This exhibition is outdoors, and part of Kuumba: Harbourfront Centre annual Black History Month Exhibit. The work will be on display until April 11, 2021 at 235 Queens Quay East.

Supported by

About the Artists

Christine Nnawuchi

Christine Nnawuchi is a self-taught Caledon-based contemporary ceramics artist whose work celebrates the beauty in imperfection, reminiscent of an ancient time. She is inspired by ancient African ideas, cultures and principles. She creates objet d’art with their own tales and history, and endeavours to recreate mythology in a magnificent way.

Christine’s work unearths the work space of an ancient healer and the matriarch of an ancient village. These are the items left behind when your village is ravaged by tribal wars, drought, fire or famine, these are the items left behind when you’re fleeing your community and home. Some pieces are utilitarian, some are adornments, others tools. These white porcelain sculptures are the remnants of the past, ghostlike and bright. They are the contemporary evolution of the instruments of life found within the walls of abandoned ancient homes.  

Apanaki Temitayo M.

Apanaki Temitayo M. was born in Toronto and raised in Trinidad and Tobago, she is an author, spoken word poet, actor, multimedia artist and teacher. She is currently the Artist-In- Wellness for CAMH. Workman Arts Artist-In-Residence for 2017-2018. As part of Workman Arts and CAMH, she teaches art to participants with mental health and drug addiction. She has had pieces featured at Workman Arts, Being Scene 16th Annual Juried Exhibition at the Gladstone Hotel and The Rendezvous With Madness Film Festival and Nuit Blanche in 2015. Apanaki has also presented her work in South Carolina and New York.

Femme de Fleur is a celebration of melanated beauty, strength and grace in women – literally the goddess in feminine energy. We’ll be showcasing pieces of this collection at Harbourfront Centre.

Yasin Osman

Yasin Osman is an award-winning photographer and cartoonist for The New Yorker. In 2015, Osman founded Shoot For Peace, a photo mentorship program in Regent Park, blending his background in early childhood education and passions for youth empowerment. 

Dear Ayeeyo opened at Daniels Spectrum in 2018, and since then the exhibit has traveled to England where it showed in six galleries including the Roundhouse London, The Black Cultural Archives and the Free Word Centre in Brixton. We’re proud to exhibit pieces from this collection at the Harbourfront Centre.