Abolitionist Dream-Mapping

We live in a world where prisons are seen as a necessary condition for public safety and accountability. But there were no prisons on Turtle Island prior to colonization! The abolitionist dr eam of a world without prisons is grounded in a concrete historical context. This project both recovers and invents decolonial abolitionist methods for dismantling colonial institutions like prisons and jails, and for building freer, healthier, and more just communities. We repurpose t he colonial instrument of the map as a creative tool for navigating oppressive struct ures and sketching concrete alternatives to the world that slavery and colonialism has built. We also activate our collective power to dream, not as an escapist fantasy bu t as a critical research method that moves beyond a n account of what is wrong with th e world to experiment with ways of making it better.

Faculty Supervisor:

Lisa Guenther

Student:

Alisha Sharma;Chung Yan (Gracelynn) Lau;Hadley Howes;Laura Phillips;Timothy Skulstad-Brown;Olivia Naphtali;Renee Whittaker;Muna Dahir;Marshall Hill;Tianna Edwards;Sebastian De Line

Partner:

Modern Fuel Artist-Run Centre

Discipline:

Cultural studies

Sector:

Arts, entertainment and recreation

University:

Queen's University

Program:

Accelerate