RPL Is Celebrating Black History Month
Regina Public Library is celebrating Black History Month with a collection of programs, books, and films that honour Black heritage in the prairies. Here is a look at what you can find!
Artwork
Dunlop Art Gallery is proud to announce that they recently acquired artwork by Liz Ikiriko – the first Black artists to be added to RPL’s permanent collection!
Pictured above is Anchored, from Liz Ikiriko’s Flags of Unsung Countries. The piece charts the artist’s process to understand her father’s struggles as an African immigrant challenged with mental illness living in the Canadian prairies.
See photos of the work from the 2019 Dunlop Art Gallery exhibition.
Books
We recently added two books by Black prairie writers to our collection; Cheryl Foggo’s book Pourin’ down rain: a Black woman claims her place in the Canadian West and Karina Vernon’s book The Black Prairie Archives. Both are available for checkout and digital download.
Reading Lists
Celebrate the strength and resilience of Black Canadians, both past and present, with reading lists on our favourite digital platforms:
Overdrive: Black History Month (Children and Adults)
Hoopla: Black Stories & Experiences (Children and Adults)
Hoopla: Conversations on Race (Adults)
Hoopla: Black History (Children and Adults)
Hoopla: Canadian Black History Month (Children and Adults)
Films
Kanopy: An Essential Black Lives Matter Viewing List
RPL Film Theatre - keep checking for film screenings all throughout February by Black filmmakers, both online and in-person.
Conversations
Feb 4, 7:00 pm - Film School: Belonging as Resistance, an online discussion with filmmakers Laurie Townshend and Janine Windolph about our collective desire to be authentic, both to ourselves as well as to the world. Laurie and Janine will speak about their own Black and Indigenous experiences and discuss selected films Citizens of Nowhere and Mia’. Watch the films at the RPL Film Theatre or streamed to your home before joining the discussion on Feb 4, 7:00 pm.
TBA in March - Film School: Black Activist Histories, an online discussion with Laurie Townshend on Black activism in Canada. Watch our social channels and website for the announcement of the March date.
UPDATE: Watch Dunlop Art Gallery's Director and Curator, Alyssa Fearon, discuss upcoming RPL Black History Month films and events in her interview with CTV.
Anchored, colour photograph on hahnemuehle, 2018. Photo: courtesy of the artist.
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