C/O nichola feldman-kiss | Artist, Bob McNair | Photographer
Artist nichola feldman-kiss presents Scapegoat, a critique of the colonial paradigm
CW: Death, implied violence
The latest exhibition at the McMaster Museum of Art, Scapegoat, critiques the colonial paradigm—the violent story of domination and submission—through displays of biological metaphors for the geopolitics and conflict. The exhibition will be available until Mar. 18 with advanced admission booking.
Artist nichola feldman-kiss began Scapegoat in 2015 following a series of works after the their deployment on a United Nations Mission to Sudan in 2011 as part of the Canadian Forces Artists Program.
The exhibition features hybrid-media installations, including photography, audio, video, digital and performative pieces. The aim is to bring to attention the injustices perpetuated by settler-colonialism structures. In the current era of heightened social awareness and responsibility, feldman-kiss’ work creates space for conversation around peace, reconciliation, recognition, decolonization and repatriation.
Since returning from Sudan in 2011, feldman-kiss has been attempting to make sense of what they saw and experienced through projects such as Between here and there.
Scapegoat attempts to uncover what is missing or left unspoken in the narrative about wars and world conflicts which are often told and fragmented by those who dominate the conversation, particularly those in power.
“I’m very suspicious about what is written down because when I approach what is written down, I know there is something missing. Sudan revealed to me a lot about what is missing, what is all contained in the narrative, what kinds of narratives are crafted for the Western press audience and how those of us who have not seen [the conflict first-hand] have very little capacity to imagine.
nichola feldman-kiss
Part of what is missing in these narratives are the identities and lives behind the death toll statistics. When human bodies are reduced to mere numbers, questions remain about their story, including who they were, where they lived, who is missing them, who is grieving them and why they went to war. An initial aversion to the plight of the sufferer (Pietà), was built upon these questions to reconnect the disembodied souls.
Between here and there / Human Toll is a sound piece in which a speech synthesizer reads the worldwide death statistic database from the Uppsala Conflict Data Program.
feldman-kiss’ worked with human skeletal sets to personify the death statistics further. . An initial aversion to the plight of the sufferer (Pietà is a series of photographic portraits of young men cradling the skeletal set by those who approximate the age of the specimen. It may be discomforting to see — but that is the point. The demographic in the pieces reflect the victims of state violence in the global statistical records.
The human skeletal sets used in the piece, originally intended for use in the medical field, were obtained from a Canadian osteological specimen supplier.
“I made that purchase [of human osteological specimens], that gesture, as another demonstration of the sort of between-here-and-there that I was experiencing from the original trip to Sudan. . .I, as a regular Canadian person, that world was so far away from my capacity to perceive it through this constant [thought] of, ‘Yes, this really happened,’” said feldman-kiss.
An important experience part of the previous project, Between here and there, and the current exhibition, Scapegoat, was feldman-kiss’ trip to India to learn about the human bone trade. A human bone specimen supplier gave feldman-kiss access to his full inventory for the video piece Scales of Justice and was a valuable resource for this project.
Caption: Still from The King’s two Bodies Scales of Justice 2016. Video projection (performance mediation).
“[Scales of Justice] came out of that experience. . .So that was an important experience for me to be able to bring empathy to the body of work which is in the exhibition Scapegoat,” explained feldman-kiss.
Altogether, Scapegoat allows its audience to reflect on the colonial paradigm by demanding confrontation with the reality of the current geopolitical landscape—a world in which marginalized folks, including people of low socioeconomic status and Black, Indigenous and People of Colour are disproportionately targeted and represented in armed casualties.
Through the culmination of works since 2015, Scapegoat facilitates grief, reflection and reimagination of a different, decolonized world.
*This article has been updated for clarity. We thank our friends at McMaster Museum of Art for clarifying key aspects of Scapegoat. For more information, visit museum.mcmaster.ca/exhibition/nichola-feldman-kiss-scapegoat/.
The plight of the Uyghurs must be recognized as genocide by the international community and students have a responsibility to advocate for their human rights
cw: genocide
What is happening to the Uyghurs? Depending on who you ask, you will receive helpfully pedantic descriptions such as: “education,” “vocational training,” “repression,” “violent suppression,” “cultural genocide,” “postmodern genocide” and “demographic genocide.” The first two, offered as explanations by the Chinese state are fictitious to the point of absurdity. Similarly, the finger-wagging condemnations of “repression” and even “violent suppression,” while ostensibly denouncing the treatment of Uyghurs evade more significant criticisms.
Rather incomprehensibly, most accusations of genocide invariably insert a qualifier — “demographic,” “cultural” and “postmodern” — perhaps to make the charges more palatable, less alarming and less meaningful. The fundamental question remains: is this a genocide, in the true sense of the word?
Unfortunately, previous experiences with the matter furnish us with the answer. The United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, which was signed by China in 1948, lists the actions that qualify as genocidal when they are inflicted with the intent to destroy, entirely or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group. One such condition is the infliction of severe physical or mental harm on members of the group.
Since 2014, the Chinese government has routinely and arbitrarily imprisoned Uyghurs in “re-education camps” — essentially concentration camps where detainees are tortured, starved and beaten, subjected to waterboarding and electric shocks and psychologically tortured. Testimony from escaped detainees and their families can hardly fail to convince even the most dispassionate judge that such actions constitute serious physical and mental harm. This is genocide.
Under said UN convention, that should be enough to constitute genocide. However, we are fortunate enough to be supplied with enough evidence so as to be excessive in our exposition. Another condition for genocide is the undertaking of activities to prevent births within the group.
An investigation by the Associated Press revealed that Uyghur women were: forcibly implanted with an intrauterine device; underwent unwanted sterilization, abortions and pregnancy checks; were force-fed birth control pills and injected with unknown fluids; had their children removed and placed in orphanages; and were sent to camps for giving birth to multiple children.
Between 2015 and 2018, the birth rate in some ethnically Uyghur areas had plummeted more than 60 per cent. To all appearances, these actions can only be aimed at dramatically decreasing the Uyghur birth rate and ultimately reducing the size of the group until it is easily assimilable. This is genocide.
This is not to say that the charges of, say, cultural genocide are any less morally repugnant; they are simply not enough. An article first published in the Financial Times argues that our society has “fetishized” genocide as the ultimate, virtually uncommittable horror — historical memory has set the bar too high. Such a view of genocide makes possible only retrospective acknowledgment, thereby obstructing efforts at prevention.
Shall we then settle for milder, qualified accusations and hope for an equally mild response? Certainly not. What is needed now is the civic and political courage to stand behind that coda to one of humanity’s greatest failings, “Never Again,” and ensure that the genocide of the Uyghurs is recognized, terminated and prosecuted.
University students have a long and venerable tradition as progressive champions of human rights. From the Free Speech Movement at the University of California, Berkeley campus to climate change advocacy, university students have a unique cohesion and shared experience that makes organization and protest against injustices a successful weapon of change.
As the Canadian government moves towards recognizing the Chinese government’s policy as genocide, the McMaster University student body, along with other groups in Canada, have the responsibility to advocate for oppressed peoples around the globe. Letter writing campaigns, opinion pieces, protests, raising social awareness — these are all actions we can and must undertake to stop the Uyghur genocide and ensure that the “Never Again” does not happen again.
Monday night, a group of McMaster students issued a petition urging McMaster administration to cancel classes and assessments on the afternoon of Sept. 27 so that students, staff and faculty can participate in a climate strike this Friday.
The students organizing the petition are a part of McMaster Students for Climate Change Advocacy (MSCCA), a McMaster-based climate advocacy organization.
The planned climate strike will come as part of a week of mass climate actions from Sept. 20-27, culminating in a global general strike to raise the alarm on the climate crisis.
Climate activists are planning a mass disruption, calling on people from all facets of society to walk out of school and work, thus disrupting business as usual and forcing leaders to pay attention.
“Together, we will sound the alarm and show our politicians that business as usual is no longer an option. The climate crisis won’t wait, so neither will we,” says a statement from Global Climate Strike, an environmental organization coordinating the protests.
While organizers hope that this will be Hamilton’s largest climate strike, it is not the first. Since March, young people from schools across Hamilton have been organizing regular protests to bring attention to the climate crisis. In collaboration with Fridays for future, young people from around the world have been walking out of classes on Fridays to demand immediate, far-reaching action on the climate emergency.
By making sacrifices to their education in order to attend the climate strikes, the activists are demonstrating that the climate crisis is an immediate priority.
“You’re really going to show that these people are in it for the long haul and especially if you’re missing work [or] you’re missing school. You are taking consequences and showing the fact that . . . if you don’t take care of this now, you won’t have a job, you won’t have school,” said Kirsten Connelly, MSCCA founder and co-president.
The urgency of the climate crisis was highlighted in a 2018 report from the United Nations International Panel on Climate Change. According to the report, it is of critical importance to limit global warming to 1.5°C within the next decade. It is very likely that failure to do so will result in catastrophic changes including mass extinction, floods, wildfires and the spread of infectious diseases.
Earth Strike Canada, the organization coordinating the Canadian climate strikes, asserts that the climate crisis is a result of an economic system that relies on indefinite growth, requiring unsustainable resource use and thus diminishing future quality of life. Earth Strike Canada’s demands include investments into green technological advancement, resource management reform and economic reform.
MSCCA’s role has been to encourage McMaster students to participate in the climate strike. To accomplish this, they are urging the university to cancel classes and evaluations on Friday afternoon so that students, staff and faculty can participate without penalty.
“Students shouldn’t have to choose between global citizenship and McMaster citizenship,” stated Connelly.
On Sept. 13, Concordia University announced that they would be cancelling classes the afternoon of Sept. 27 to allow students to attend the climate strike. McMaster students are urging the university to follow suit.
Last week, McMaster issued a statement saying that the university would stay open on Sept. 27 so that academic and research activities can continue as scheduled.
However, MSCCA members are still hopeful. As of Wednesday afternoon, the petition had over 2,100 signatures on Change.org, and the numbers are growing.
Organizers are pushing for a mass climate strike around the world. Hamilton’s climate strike will be held on Sept. 27 at 12:00 in Gore Park.
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With International Day of Persons with Disabilities around the corner, disability justice activists in Hamilton through the Hamilton Centre for Civic Inclusion (HCCI) decided to host the first Disability Justice Unconference: Momentum.
Community organizer Sarah Jama pointed out that the “unconference” is one of the very few events aimed at commemorating the annual date designated by the United Nations.
The event is sponsored by Laidlaw Foundation and the Equity and Inclusion Office at McMaster University.
“Justice for people with disability is never really on the forefront of conversations around equity in this city.… This conference is meant to bring people together, talk about the history of the disability justice movement and talk about the future of the movement in Canada,” said Jama.
Jama, a recent McMaster graduate who has served two years as the Ontario Director of the National Educational Association of Disabled Students and founded the McMaster Students Union’s accessibility-focused peer support service Maccess, hopes that the conference will bring people with lived experiences, as well as their allies, together to brainstorm the next steps for tackling issues in the disability community.
The full-day conference is set to take place Dec. 1 at the Lincoln Alexander Centre and features workshops, talks and community forums created by activists, community members, academics and service providers from all across Ontario.
“We are bringing people together, who are mostly youth, to discuss the future of the disability justice movement. It’s the best way to decide the next steps,” explained Jama.
“You can’t make change without building that foundation from learning from one another,” said Jama.
“Justice for people with disability is never really on the forefront of conversations around equity in this city.”
Sarah Jama
Activist
Momentum
The event’s welcome address by Associate Director at the Centre of Independent Living in Toronto and former CBC producer, Ing Wong-Ward, is followed by thirteen diverse workshops that attendees can choose from.
The workshops aim to start conversations on the experiences of persons with disabilities and identify the current needs of the community to work towards envisioning the next steps.
Current McMaster students Alex Wilson and Shannon Balfour are hosting a workshop titled Re-imagining Recovery: A Historical examination and interactive chat on what recovery has, does and can mean.
Ottawa-based community organizer, Jen Roy, will be introducing attendees to self-defining disability documentation and care planning.
Other workshops focus on sexual violence against people with disabilities, mental health and barriers to academic accommodations.
Jama also hopes that Momentum will be an opportunity for attendees to explore the disability justice movement and the history of violence against persons with disabilities in Ontario, such as the institutionalization of thousands of people with disabilities until 2009 at the Huronia Regional Centre (formerly known as the Asylum for Idiots) in Orillia, Ontario.
The devastating accounts of physical and sexual abuse, forced sterilization and death of children at the government-run institution is not often taught in schools, let alone addressed in our community.
The day also includes lunch time focused conversation activities, artistic performance by Hamilton-based writer and actor, Rex Emerson Jackson, a community forum and a final keynote address by Sarah Jama.
“What I like about this conference is that it’s not people without disabilities talking off about what needs to be done, its people with disabilities from across the province deciding what’s important to them and what they think should be talked about and what knowledge they want to share,” explained Jama.
“In a way, it’s about giving power back to people with disabilities.”
Momentum strives to create a community for individuals to share their experiences and work together.
Attendees will build relationships and leave with not only a sense of belonging in the movement, but a family of people willing to help work towards positive social change.
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On Nov. 8, Melissa Fleming, the Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson at the United Nations Refugee Agency, came to Hamilton. In addition to visiting local organizations, Fleming also gave a lecture in Convocation Hall.
Fleming is responsible for leading media groups and highlighting the plight and resilience of refugees across the globe.
In her speech at McMaster, Fleming focused on the concept of home and emphasized that, by virtue of their situation, refugees are “confronted with new meanings of ‘home’.”
Fleming also visited the Immigrants Working Centre, an organization specializing in settlement services for newly landed immigrants, and Karam Kitchen, a Hamilton-based catering company operated by Syrian refugee women.
“When people become refugees they need a special kind of home, defined in this case as a place of sanctuary where they can heal, and where they can rebuild,” said Fleming.
Nevertheless, Fleming noted the difficulty of the rebuilding process and the fact that millions of refugees continue to question and redefine what home means to them.
Towards the end of her speech, Fleming discussed No Stranger Place, a new UNHCR project aimed at illuminating the stories of refugees and hosts from across Europe.
She also praised Canada’s private sponsorship of refugees program, which has brought over 275,000 refugees to the country since 1979.
"When people become refugees they need a special kind of home - defined in this case as a place of sanctuary where they can heal, and where they can rebuild."
Melissa Fleming
Head of Communications and Chief Spokesperson
United Nations Refugee Agency
Fleming concluded by offering her definition of home:
“Home is a place of compassionate community. It is a place where the act of compassion benefits the receiver, but also enriches the giver,” she said.
While earnest and well-intentioned, Fleming’s speech garnered mixed reactions from those in attendance.
Odette Anderyous, a refugee in attendance, wished that Fleming spoke more about how refugees go about finding a new home and how long they have to wait until their applications are processed.
“It was like the whole lecture was to convince some people that we as refugees have to be here and live with [hosts] and that we are just numbers that Canada needs every year for economic purposes,” said Anderyous.
In addition, Anderyous critiqued Fleming’s use of the word “asylum” and the fact that she, a spokesperson for refugee issues, does not know what it is like to be one.
For others, however, Fleming’s speech was a beacon of hope.
“She spoke directly on her experiences in the camps, and meeting refugees, which is an extremely important perspective to take into account,” said Abdullah Al Hamlawi, a fourth year health studies and peace studies student who helped organize Fleming’s visit.
“The meeting with Melissa went great and she got to see how refugees are creating their own jobs by being entrepreneurs when they lack Canadian experience,” said Al Hamlawi.
Although Fleming has left the city, Hamilton continues to support refugees with its different services aimed at resettling and empowering newcomers in Hamilton.
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By: Abeera Shahid
Oct. 24 marked the 71st anniversary of the United Nations. With this milestone in mind, The Hamilton branch of the United Nations of Association in Canada and the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton held a panel to create a space for conversation on Canada’s engagement with the UN, specifically in the context of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The event featured panelists including Stacey LaForme, Chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation, Pete Doolittle, Community Relations Administrator for Brantford Native Housing, Sarah Dover, a lawyer who represents and works with Indigenous people, and Hannah Martin, a Mi’kmaq Indigenous Studies student at McMaster.
The discussion centered around Canada’s official adoption of UNDRIP as announced in May 2016, nine years after the declaration was passed by the General Assembly.
“When the UN formally published their report, Canada voted no, as well as the U.S, Australia and New Zealand… all of those countries have a large Indigenous population. So there were obviously political reasons why those governments said no, we are not going to support this even though majority of the UN did,” said Doolittle.
Panelists provided insight as to why Canada was against the declaration and expressed their reservations about the UNDRIP announcement considering its provisions are challenging to implement and conflict with current legislation.
“Canada was saying we like our native people, we are proud of our Indigenous people. And so the statements they used were one of ownership and Canada doesn’t own native people but yet they treat us that way… some of that has continued on, you get the Indian Act, we are being told as native people how to behave in Canada’s house,” explained Doolittle.
The Canadian government’s historical and ongoing mistreatment of Indigenous people has resulted in a relationship tainted by mistrust. UNDRIP is designed to reconsider the power balance and provide indigenous people with a voice.
“The First Nations people could gain power [through UNDRIP] … to veto projects that the government proposes such as environmental projects ... that big corporations try to implement, that of Alton gas in Nova Scotia and the hydroelectric dam in Peace River, BC, and the Dakota Access Pipeline at Standing Rock, North Dakota,” said Martin.
Hence, consultation with indigenous people will be essential for UNDRIP to go from an aspirational vision to tangible actions.
“I believe that for something like the UNDRIP to be implemented, it needs to happen on indigenous people’s agendas and all indigenous people’s agendas, not just one group because there are many different nations,” explained Martin.
When asked about some of the pertinent Indigenous issues that need to be addressed, the panelists were passionate in sharing how the effects of colonialism still prevail today.
“The white paper, the Indian Act, is still alive and kicking… there are more [Indigenous] children in [government care] today than there were ever in residential schools,” said Doolittle.
Despite all the challenges facing Indigenous communities, all the panelists maintained a sense of hope and optimism while emphasizing the importance of supporting each other.
“We are native people of Turtle Island, we support each other. We also support people with the good, not only with the angst and having to defend ourselves but we are also there to support each other for the good too,” said Doolittle.
With the second round of negotiations on the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty to be held in New York on March 18, students at McMaster are joining the mission to spread awareness about the issue.
The December shooting in Connecticut reignited the gun control debate in the United States and abroad. Months before this shooting, diplomats from Canada and other nations had attended a global conference held in New York under the auspice of the United Nations to discuss the draft version of the first international multilateral treaty on the regulation of conventional arms trade.
But the July conference ended inconclusively after the United States and several other countries, such as China and Russia, requested more time to look into the treaty. Talks are scheduled to reconvene from March 18-28.
The Arms Trade Treaty (ATT) will be an international regulation on the export, import and transfer of conventional arms. The United Nations is also working on reinforcing the Program of Action on Small Arms and Light Weapons.
Most conflicts in the world are done with conventional weapons, and most of these weapons are produced in Western countries. As of now, there is no international regulation in place on conventional arms trade, which is estimated at $70 billion. The United States is the world’s biggest arms trader, accounting for 40 per cent of transfers of conventional arms.
Canada supports the inclusion of small arms, light weapons and ammunition within the ATT, so long as it is consistent with the principle of national discretion.
Domestically, the Conservative government discontinued the registry early last year on the grounds that it is costly and inefficient.
The Canadian Conservative government has played a minimal role in treaty negotiations, with its major priority being the interest of law-abiding Canadian gun owners. In 2011, Canada proposed to exclude hunting rifles and “civilian” arms from the treaty, retracting the proposition only after stern criticisms from other nations.
Dr. Andrew Lui, a professor on international politics at McMaster University, describes Canada's position on the treaty as difficult. Canada is isolated in regards to its stance on international Issues, such as with the recent withdrawal from the Kyoto Protocol.
“[The Canadian government] is led by pragmatism than principle,” explained Dr. Nibaldo Galleguillos, a professor in comparative politics at Mac.
In recent years, the country has backed away from its peacekeeping reputation. Canada has rarely been a leader, and has often abstained or followed other nations when it comes to international human rights and humanitarian causes.
The execution of small arms control is complex.
“UN agreements are not enforceable,” said Galleguillos. “The question is, to what degree is [the treaty] effective when it is not supported by the superpowers.”
On campus, War Child at Mac, an MSU-recognized humanitarian club concerned with child soldiers in war-conflicted countries, is launching a video to spread awareness on the importance of the Arms Trade Treaty.
War Child Canada, a non-governmental organization followed by War Child at Mac, is in coalition with Control Arms, an ATT-advocacy group campaigning for a more bulletproof treaty. March 11-17 marks the global week of action for Arms Trade Treaty. War Child at Mac will be running an information booth in MUSC this Friday, March 15, to spread awareness of the Arms Trade Treaty.
