Our Collective Look-Book/Magazine is a digital and printed collection of 7 Indigenous Student Artist features (and one recent graduate!) from universities across Ontario.
Each student’s feature page is designed to showcase their art and connect readers to further content on their websites, social media pages, contacts, etc.
I feel grateful to be able to appreciate and learn from each featured artist through the creation of this project, and I believe that supporting and uplifting one another is extremely important. I am hoping that this will act to shout-out each featured artist through OUSA’s website and our online platforms.
Further, I hope this calls on our universities to tear down anti-Indigenous symbolism (e.g., colonial figures represented on campus and in the names of our universities and campus spaces) and to replace these colonial messages with Indigenous visibility and representation. One very important way institutions should dedicate their efforts to supporting Indigenous students is by commissioning and supporting Indigenous students to create and express themselves within the university space. Visibility must involve valuing Indigenous culture, art, and expression, to create a safe, inclusive, and representative academic space. Our university's dedication to ethics involves creating a space with symbolism that expresses the institution’s moral interests and devotion to inclusion and truth.
Written by Emily DuBois Brooks, OUSA intern for Summer 2021 and the force behind Our Collective Look-book/Magazine.