Gallery 1C03’s latest exhibition is Heidi McKenzie’s Reclaimed: Indo-Caribbean HerStories, a mixed-media ceramic-based exhibition that illuminates the power, courage, and strength of Indo-Caribbean women, past and present. The exhibit runs from February 27 to April 25, with an opening reception on February 27 from 4 to 6 p.m. All are welcome to join an artist talk by Heidi McKenzie on March 11 at 4 p.m., over Zoom.
The exhibition brings attention to an element of BIPOC history that is seldom discussed but has a global impact: Indo-Caribbean indentureship. She draws upon her own personal family history, and brings in stories from Indo-Caribbean community members in Toronto, where she makes her home, to honour Indo-Caribbean women in particular.
McKenzie uses photographic portraiture on ceramics, both archival and contemporary, to draw in the visual narrative of the women’s jewelry as symbolic of strength, courage, and resistance. It is an act of reclamation and decolonization.
“We are excited to welcome the University community and broader Winnipeg community to visit the exhibition to learn from Heidi’s art and appreciate the stories that are being shared here,” said Jennifer Gibson, Gallery 1C03 Director/Curator. “Gallery 1C03 is also pleased to have commissioned an essay for the exhibition written by UWinnipeg alumna and independent curator, writer and artist, Shaneela Boodoo (MA 22).”
About Heidi McKenzie
Heidi McKenzie is a ceramic artist based in Toronto. Heidi completed her MFA at OCADU in 2014. Heidi is informed by her mixed-race Indo-Trinidadian/Irish-American heritage. She uses photography, digital media, and archive to forefront themes of ancestry, race, migration and colonization, as well as body and healing. In 2022, Heidi was a finalist for the Shantz Award, Canada’s national emerging ceramics award. Heidi has exhibited internationally in Europe, Scandinavia and the US. The recipient of numerous grants, Heidi has created in Denmark, Hungary, Australia, China, and Indonesia. She curated Decolonizing Clay at the Australian Ceramics Triennale, 2019, and participated in the World Indian Diaspora Congress in Trinidad, 2020, and the Celebrating Girmityas (Indo-indenturehship) International Conference, May 2023. Heidi was inducted into the International Academy of Ceramics in 2022 and serves as a volunteer board member with NCECA, the National Council for the Education of the Ceramic Arts. Reclaimed: Indo-Caribbean HerStories continues to explore the little-known histories of Indo-Caribbean indentureship through a feminist lens.
You can see the exhibition in Gallery 1C03 Monday to Friday between 12 and 4 p.m. from February 27 until April 25, 2025. Closed Friday, April 18. Learn more about the exhibition.
