A Black Hands Art Project for Black lives

"I kindly invite ALL African/Black people to participate"

Hello all,

My name is Elsa and I am a visual artist living in Toronto. In my opinion being an artist is someone who sees beyond what is there.

I started a project recently to learn of different African/Black people’s experiences in hopes of translating their stories through my art; to be ally and to add to their voice for change. I would like to extend an invitation for you to take part in my project. With my project I hope to shed light on the experiences of mostly Afro-Canadians in order to support to BlackLivesMatter and AfroBiz movements.

My Project:

In order to participate, I invite you to take a picture of your hands. While looking at your hands, I want you to think of a compliment you’ve received and then take a picture of your hands. Then, look at your hands again and think of the most hurtful or disrespectful thing anyone has ever said to you in relation to being African/Black person, and take a picture of your hands again.

Now you have two pictures and two phrases. Please send them to me, and if you feel comfortable, please provide a bit of context as to who said it and how the comment came about.

As a matter of fact, AfroBiz is kindly supporting me with my project and you can check their blog for details: https://www.afrobiz.ca/a-black-hands-art-project-for-black-lives-by-toronto-visual-artist-elsa-hashemi

A note:

Please submit pictures with the high resolution possible. You are free to choose your background on your own - indoors or outdoors, in the light or in the dark, in colour or in black and white. I’m interested in seeing how you look at your hands or how you want them to be viewed by others.

I plan to do some research based on the phrases I receive from you and then exhibit your pictures. You will be invited to visit the exhibition of my findings and your photos upon completion.

I sincerely appreciate your participations and cannot wait view your submissions and read your stories. You can send them to my email, elsahash82@gmail.com .

Please feel free to view my other work on social media or read more about me on my website. Also, feel free to send this to any Black-Canadians that you know may be interested in participating.

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