Here to stay, baby

Artist Statement

The mural was painted for all the people who don’t fit into a neat little box of what is widely seen as normal and nice.

We are survivors after many years of erasure, we will not accept that only one type of person should make up a community. We are beautiful because we are all different and no matter how much violence and erasure we face here, we will pass down our stories through community and will live on. This mural also specifically honours the Black and Brown people of this community who have faced exclusion in their own communities. The LGBTQ2A community has also faced this type of exclusion in the community but we always survive and we will always be here.

Sonia Ekiyor-Katimi

Sonia is a queer artist from Nigeria, now living in Canada. She completed her education in architecture but like many in the field, her interest is also in visual art. She aims to represent impolite characters and explore queer Black representation through her own life and observations.