The Museum of Vancouver has a fantastic exhibit right now on Indigenous protest art called Acts of Resistance. It features seven Indigenous artists and the flags they designed for a 2018 Greenpeace aerial blockade of an oil tanker carrying tar sands oil. This blockade was in protest of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion (TMX), a new pipeline which would carry tar sands oil through the territories of numerous Indigenous nations without their consent and make the climate crisis worse.
While you can’t go see the exhibit in-person right now because of COVID-19, you CAN take a virtual tour of the exhibit from the comfort of your home. You can see the flags up close, learn more about the designs and the Indigenous artists who created them, and learn about Indigenous cultural expression as a form of activism and “the power of art to disrupt and challenge the status quo.”
Construction on the TMX pipeline is proceeding, even in the midst of the pandemic. This is despite concerns raised by Indigenous leaders and health professionals that ongoing construction poses a serious health risk and should not be considered an ‘essential’ service.
The Indigenous land and water defenders, and artists, who are leading the fight to stop this pipeline need our support now more than ever. In the coming weeks, months and years make sure you’re doing everything you can to stand with them.