FOYER

May 7 – August 17, 2025

Red Dress Day – Walking with our Sisters

Artists include Brenda, Brittany, Eva, Gayle, Judy, Nicole, Rachel, Robin, Stacy and Tammy

This Red Dress installation is made and shared in honour of the MMIWG2S. Thank you to the women, two-spirit and gender diverse people of the House of Songs Gathering Circle for sharing their work and gifts with us.

Also known as Red Dress Day, May 5th honours the thousands of missing and murdered Indigenous women, girls, two-spirit, and gender diverse people in Canada by encouraging learning and building awareness to end gender-based violence against Indigenous people. Call to Action 41 of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report calls on the federal government of Canada to begin an inquiry into the numerous cases of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

In 2012 Métis artist and social justice advocate, Christi Belcourt (apihtâwikosisâniskwêw / mânitow sâkahikanihk) put a general social media call out across Canada and the US to send in moccasin vamps (tops) to contribute to a commemorative art installation in honour of the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. The Walking With Our Sisters project was born. Within a year, over 1600 vamps had been submitted. This project continues thirteen years later to remember all those who were stolen. The vamps are intentionally not sewn into moccasins to represent the unfinished lives of women and girls. The vamps you see here were made for this special tribute by Indigenous women and youth in our community in the House of Songs Gathering Circle.

Across the globe, the arts have provided a creative pathway to breaking silences, transforming conflicts, and mending the damaged relationships of violence, oppression, and exclusion. From war-ravaged countries to local communities struggling with everyday violence, poverty, and racism, the arts are widely used by educators, practitioners, and community leaders to deal with trauma and difficult emotions, and to communicate across cultural divides.

Awareness is part of the broader march toward reconciliation, and the visual reminder of this installation is an opportunity to remember and reflect on the pain and loss. Please visit the installation throughout our summer season as it evolves and new elements are added.