Jaime Black | |
---|---|
Born | |
Nationality | Canadian-Métis |
Known for | Installation Art Projects, Photography, Sculpture, Immersive Film and Video, and Performance Art Practices |
Notable work | REDress Project |
Website | https://www.jaimeblackartist.com/ |
Jaime Black (She/Them [1]) is a Canadian Red River Métis multidisciplinary artist and activist of Anishinaabe and Finnish descent. Jaime lives and works on her home territory near the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers.[2]
Her work focuses on First Nations and Indigenous representation and identity.[3] Black is best known for the REDress Project, an art installation that she created as a response to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis in Canada as well as in the United States.[4] A 2014 report by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police found that more than 1,000 Indigenous women were murdered over the span of 30 years from 1980 to 2012.[5] However, some Indigenous advocacy groups dispute these reports arguing that the number is much greater than the government has acknowledged.[6][7]
Black centers her creative practice on Indigenous womanhood and the effects of colonization on Indigenous peoples in North America. Her art has brought significant attention to the continued violence against Indigenous women.[4] Notably, The REDress project has received recognition from the Canadian government, with a national holiday, Red Dress Day which is focussed on commemorating MMIW.[8]