FLIGHT AND FREEDOM: Stories of Escape to Canada
May 1 – June 1, 2016
Second Floor Gallery, Runnymede Public Library, Toronto
The global number of people currently displaced from their home country – more than 50 million – is higher than at any time since World War II. Yet in recent years Canada has deported, denied, and diverted countless refugees. Is Canada a safe haven for refugees or a closed door? The exhibition, Portraits from 'FLIGHT AND FREEDOM: Stories of Escape to Canada', is made up of images that were originally commissioned by Maytree Foundation, a private non-for-profit organization committed to reducing poverty and inequality in Canada. They focus on Canadians who arrived as refugees from notable conflicts around the world — the War of 1812 to the ongoing War in Afghanistan — and from persecution in their home countries. Each portrait is accompanied by a story that begins with an escape that is sometimes harrowing and always remarkable. The narrative then turns to contemporary lives and careers, and the impact of refugees-turned-Canadians in the communities they call home, from Halifax to Vancouver and Toronto.
Official Book Website: FLIGHT AND FREEDOM
