Brandonites join ‘The Right to Be Known’ initiative

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This article was published 10/03/2025 (192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba was filled with creativity and reflection on Friday evening as community members came together to contribute to a growing international art project centered on the theme of human rights and visibility.

“The Right to Be Known,” an initiative aimed at raising awareness about the importance of amplifying the voices of victims of human rights abuses, featured the creation of a large mural composed of 600 tiles. Each tile, individually painted, symbolized a personal story, culminating in a collective narrative that underscores how unique identities and experiences contribute to a unified whole.

The project began at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg this past September, where 250 tiles were painted. With Friday’s event in Brandon, which saw around 120 tiles completed by local participants, the mosaic is now more than halfway to completion.

This is part of a much larger project that has been running for three years, funded by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs at Northwestern University, Brandon University associate professor of philosophy Cameron Boult told the Sun.

“We’ve hosted events in various locations, including prisons in Illinois, to explore issues of invisibility, systemic distortion, and vilification,” he said in an interview. “The right to be known is about addressing these injustices and ensuring that people’s voices are heard.”

Boult explained the Brandon event exceeded expectations, attracting a diverse crowd of approximately 120 attendees, including students from Brandon University, local artists and community members from various backgrounds.

The mosaic project was facilitated by University of Manitoba associate professor Bruno de Oliveira Jayme, an expert in community art and participatory visual storytelling.

“Each participant was given a small canvas, 10-by-10 centimetres, and asked to visually respond to a prompt related to their personal experience of being seen or known,” Jayme said. “When all these individual pieces are brought together, they form a collective visual representation of something much larger. This kind of community art is powerful because it allows suppressed stories to surface and creates a safe space for difficult but necessary conversations.”

The initiative’s collaborative nature extends beyond Brandon and Winnipeg. Boult emphasized that additional events are planned to further complete the mosaic, which will ultimately serve as a testament to the right to be known in various contexts.

“The response has been incredible,” he said. “It shows how meaningful this project is to people. We want to continue expanding it, bringing it to other communities in Manitoba and beyond.”

The overarching project is led by Jennifer Lackey, a professor at Northwestern University and director of the Prison Education Program. It is supported by the Buffett Institute for Global Affairs and involves multiple academic and artistic collaborators, including Veli Mitova, director of the African Centre for Epistemology and Philosophy of Science at the University of Johannesburg.

For many participants, the experience was not just about painting a tile but about contributing to a broader dialogue on justice and recognition.

“How often do you get over 100 people in one space on a random evening to reflect on the right to be known?” Jayme said. “It’s inspiring, and it shows the power of art in bringing people together for important conversations.”

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