The Forgotten

On January 29 we had the privilege of attending the opening of "The Forgotten" exhibit. Vancouver artist Pamela Masik has spent the last 4 years on a journey to honor and give voice, heart and soul to 69 of the murdered and missing women from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside through the medium of art. These are women who Pamela aptly describes as "forgotten long before they went missing". They are the nameless, faceless, voiceless women we have come to know, often, as "just" drugs addicts and prostitutes. Society's cast aways. Hopeless causes. Living a life "they chose". How misguided we were, and because of that, many went missing without so much as a notice. And those who were noticed, those friends and family who desperately tried to get others to listen, to look for them, to help.....they themselves were often ignored. Suddenly voiceless, just like their sisters.

But no more. Many have worked hard to restore dignity, value and identity to these women and hundreds of women like them. Pamela is one of those women.

As we walked into the exhibit I was overwhelmed, speechless. Each of the womens' faces has been captured on a canvas measuring eight feet by ten feet. Pamela has spent much of her time getting to know the women through their families and also getting to know the details of their lives and sadly, their deaths. She sacrificed much of her own peace to truly know the deepest most tragic details of each and every one. The pictures are not all pretty. But they are authentic. True to the reality of life on the street, of sexual exploitation, of the horror that many of them faced in life and especially in death. Tucked into each painting are tiny details; layers, textures, words, images that all combine to tell the story. Though forever silenced, the presence of each of these women was felt as I stood and looked them in the eye. The silence was deafening. Haunting, convicting, compelling. Humbling. I stood and looked at each one, getting as close as I could. Many times I wanted to hang my head. Shame on me. Shame on you.

Once forgotten, these women are forgotten no more. This work is a beautiful offering, a gift of dignity restored to the women themselves and to their families. It is also a call to a city full of Serena's and Georgina's and Sarah's and Tiffany's, to finally listen to the voice of the voiceless, to see the face of the faceless, to know the names of the nameless.

In her desire to honor these women to the world, Pamela will be showcasing her exhibit during the Olympics at her art studio, Masik Studios at 145 West 2nd Avenue. For more information go to www.masik.ca or www.theforgotten.ca.

~ Sue Todd

Comments

[Deb Speight]

Great work