Aurora artist Yafang Shi’s documentary photograph “Indigenous Girls at a Women’s Memorial March” and documentary photograph “MeToo” are being exhibited at the Facing Forward: 2024 Juried Exhibition at the St. Lawrence College’s Marianne van Silfhout Gallery.
A member of both the York Region Arts Council and the Women’s Art Association of Canada, Shi is known for her work highlighting social movements, particularly those centred around women’s rights and social justice.
“Indigenous Girls at a Women’s Memorial March” captures a poignant moment from the Women’s Memorial March held in Vancouver in February, an event dedicated to honouring the lives of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
Another documentary photograph, “MeToo,” was taken during the Women’s March in Washington, D.C., following the inauguration of Donald Trump in 2019. Both pieces reflect Shi’s deep commitment to documenting and supporting social movements aimed at creating a better world.
“My works on social movements for women’s rights and social justice are also for social movements for a better world. I would like to give back to the causes that these social movements fight for,” says Shi.
In line with this commitment, and with the support of the Marianne van Silfhout Gallery, Shi will donate all proceeds from the sale of these two photographs to organizations that advocate for women’s rights and social justice.
Proceeds from the photograph “Indigenous Girls at a Women’s Memorial March” will be donated to the Downtown Eastside Women’s Centre, a charity that the organizers of the annual Women’s Memorial March in Vancouver encourage the public to support.
Meanwhile, proceeds from the photograph “MeToo” will be donated to Chinese Feminism in Toronto, a collective currently organizing an exhibition on the #MeToo movement. Shi believes it is fitting to contribute the proceeds from her work on “MeToo” to this group.
Shi has set a fundraising goal of $2,000 for each organization, with proof of donation to be provided to all supporters. The fundraising efforts will continue beyond the exhibition period until the goals are met.
Facing Forward: 2024 Juried Exhibition runs until Sept. 13. For more details, visit stlawrencecollege.ca. For those interested in supporting these causes, Shi can be contacted at [email protected].
Scarlett Liu is a federally funded Local Journalism Initiative reporter at Markham Economist & Sun
