Trevor Twells of Make Room Inc, a curatorial agency that partners with institutions like the City of Toronto, Sankofa Square, and of course Union Station to create fresh and meaningful art experiences that platform BIPOC artists and emerging ones, tells us about the 3rd iteration of this partnership with Union Station. ” A transit Through Time was inspired by the quote by Octavia Butler ‘I wrote myself in, since I’m me and I’m here and I’m writing.’ Black culture and black creativity has permeated the culture for centuries. We wanted to honor the ones that came before us: the movers, the shakers, the revolutionaries, because we’re really standing on the shoulders of giants. How do we explore this concept? We invited artists to submit their works based on the concept of paying homage to the ones that came before us, the ones that pushed us forward, and up came this amazing exhibit with themes of spirituality, gender, reclamation, as well as making space in places where you’re said you’re not belonging in.”
Pixel Heller’s art piece, Moko Jumbies as Cultural Protectors, depicts the traditional masquerade character that started in West Africa and through the Atlantic slave trade made its way over to the Caribbean islands where it took on a prominent figure in carnival. Heller shares that this character helped her with cultural reconnection. “I started getting into as a way of reconnecting back with my Caribbean identity. As someone that grew up in Winnipeg, I kind of had that sense of lack of identity. I started learning how to stilt walk, I got into the community and in October of last year, I went to Tobago to participate in Carnival and this was one of the images that I got that I captured.” Heller also recently modelled on her stilts in Fashion Art Toronto, Toronto’s longest running fashion week.
Jordan Sook’s solo exhibition uses tradition through the metamorphosis of butterflies to tie into the theme. “It’s a feeling of transcendence that I wanted the viewer to feel within themselves. This idea of growth, upward movement, also of being uplifting during the winter months. I feel like it’s important to provide joy for people as they transit through Union Station.” Sook shares that 300 000 people will see his work every day. “It’s amazing to have people connect with you and gravitate to your work through different entry points. There’s a series of different installations. There’s the butterflies that are actually painted on themselves. There’s the banners outside of the station, walls downstairs and even digital screens. It’s a wide range of mediums.” For Sook, the freedom of butterflies is what he aspires for the Black community. “The butterflies can be symbolic of that sense of freedom of being able to create what you want. As a black artist, we’ve reached a place in history and time where you can now create without borders or having it to be tied to a Black body in that way. The butterflies are really representative of that freedom and mobility that we now have as black artists.”
Other works include Destinie Adélakun’s piece “Gélédé Queens” which transforms public space into a portal for cultural storytelling. The work highlights gender fluidity, communal strength, and the beauty of African traditions reimagined for contemporary diasporic narratives. Union Station, a site of migration, movement, and intersection, is the ideal setting for this dialogue on identity, belonging, and cultural memory. Camille Kiffin’s piece Celestial Heart aims to capture an undying flame within everyone. She describes her work as a love letter to herself following a difficult period battling mental health struggles. The heart on fire resembles resilience, hope and bright futures, whilst balancing the power of darkness and light.
The exhibition will be on display until August 2025.
Hillary LeBlanc
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