TERRITORY & SOLIDARITY
An art organization does not exist in isolation, but is intricately connected to the world it inhabits.
CFMDC acknowledges the l continued colonization of Turtle Island and strives to work in solidarity with local and global anti-colonial struggles supporting Land Back movements as a material form of sovereignty.
As a member of the Independent Media Arts Alliance we affirm and are guided by their Basis of Unity.
The daily work of CFMDC takes place in Tkaronto (Toronto) which is covered by Treaty 13 signed with the Mississaugas of the Credit, and the Williams Treaty signed with multiple Mississaugas and Chippewa bands. We also acknowledge The Dish with One Spoon treaty between the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee that covers the land of what is now called southern Ontario.
Today, the meeting place of Toronto is the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community and on this territory.
We direct readers to heed the Calls to Action from The Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada with a particular attention to the Recommendations for Museums and Archives and Recommendations for Media and Reconciliation. We also work with the knowledge of the importance of recognition of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the four First Nations Principles of OCAP®. As a Media Arts organization we draw your attention to the work of the National Indigenous Media Arts Coalition (NIMAC).
As part of anti-colonial solidarity, CFMDC board and staff proudly commits to the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI). Calls to support PACBI and the wider Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) come from Palestinian civil society and are grassroots strategies opposing the colonization of Palestine by directly targeting complicity. These campaigns do not target individuals based on identity; they advocate for boycotts of Israeli academic and cultural institutions and projects based on their continued complicity in Israel’s denial of Palestinian rights as stipulated by international law.
For CFMDC board and staff, this means that we will not knowingly engage in cultural or academic projects that are funded by the state of Israel or foundations that donate to support the illegal occupation of Palestine. This includes projects that art-wash or do the work of normalizing apartheid and occupation as defined by international law. We strongly encourage other artist-run centres, cultural workers, and artists to publicly support these demands and share this commitment with their members.