Indigenous women face higher rates of violence than any other cultural group in Canada and the United States. Indigenous families and communities have been advocating for generations to make changes to the colonial system that often treat the perpetrators of this violence with impunity. The REDress Project works to create space for families of MMIWG (missing or murdered Indigenous women and girls) to tell their stories and to find support and solidarity in the struggle to protect their loved ones. The project also provides a space to hear from frontline community workers, Indigenous women academics, elders and knowledge keepers on how we can work together as a community to bring justice to MMIWG and their families.
The REDress Project is an art installation project and call for justice for Indigenous women and girls. Indigenous women are the heart of our cultures and communities across Turtle Island; for thousands of years women were at the centre of the circle, creating balance and harmony in our communities.
Since the onset of colonization women and girls have been specifically targeted as a way of breaking apart communities and erasing culture in an e ort to assimilate Indigenous ways of being. The REDress Project calls in the spiritual power and presence of our ancestors, as well as the spirits of those who have gone missing or been murdered. The REDresses stand with us as we reclaim our circles, reclaim our voices and reimagine what it means to move forward in a good way.
Jaime Black, artist
Founded in 2009, The REDress Project was first exhibited at the University of Winnipeg Campus in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with over one hundred dresses displayed across campus. Over the past ten years, The REDress Project has travelled to over 50 locations across Canada and Internationally and has been shown at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, and at the National Museum of The American Indian in Washington, DC. It is on permanent display at The Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and also here at the Nelson Museum, in the 2nd floor exhibit. We are humbled and honoured to be one of only two locations in Canada to house a permanent installation of the REDress Project, and extend our thanks to Jaime for her trust.
In 2021, the exhibition was displayed in Gallery B, and included a concurrent off-site installation in the green space in front of Nelson City Hall.