RUNNING MAY 20 to JUNE 19 on bidemioloyede.com
In response to COVID-19, Bidemi Oloyede's first solo exhibition has been moved to a web platform.
BL|ARCHIVE uses street photography and studio portraiture to reframe Black Canadian identity.
Contesting the idea that Blackness is on the margin, or displaced from a Canadian identity, BL|ARCHIVE cements the cultural identity of Blackness firmly within the urban grids of Toronto, “look(ing) back, at one another, naming what we see.” This format is one of constructing history through a personal lens.
BL|ARCHIVE presents Black life through joy, intimacy, and collaborative empowerment. Using analogue film as strategic permanence, Oloyede shifts from documentarian to facilitator.
This project is supported by the Career Launcher program, an initiative from the Centre for Emerging Artists and Designers at OCAD University.