Here We Are Here: Black Canadian Contemporary Art is a new exhibition at the Royal Ontario Museum featuring work by Akin Sunrise artist Charmaine Lurch, along with eight other Canadian artists. This multidisciplinary exhibition brings together nine Canadian contemporary artists to explore the deep rooted histories and enduring presence of Black culture in Canada. Through the artists’ work, Here We Are Here examines the complexities of art, race and historical identity in Canada. The exhibition will be on display in the ROM’s Third Floor Centre Block

The exhibition, presented by TD Bank Group, opened on January 27, 2018 and runs until April 22, 2018. Through these unique and visually compelling installations, you are invited to challenge yourself to think differently about the deep-rooted histories and enduring presence of Black Canadians, and gain a new and multifaceted understanding of Canada.

Charmaine Lurch is an award winning arts researcher and interdisciplinary artist. She connects race, time, and space in her work. She portrays the agency and boundless persistence of racially marked subjects to be and belong in spaces they inhabit. Engaging the audience through story, and with opportunities for participatory action is integral to this work. Her work has been exhibited in numerous venues including the Royal Ontario Museum, the art Gallery of Ontario, Scotiabank Nuit Blanche, The University of British Columbia, and the National Gallery of Jamaica.

Charmaine’s installations often meld sculptural and pictorial elements. Her integration of mixed media, linear and painterly elements, maximizes a line quality that is both purposeful and descriptive. Charmaine has her Master’s in Environmental Studies from York University, is a graduate of Sheridan College Arts & Design program, and studied at the Ontario College of Arts & Design and The School of Visual Arts in New York City.