Three Black female creatives reflect on Calgary's changing arts landscape – The Globe and Mail

It’s been two years since COVID-19 disrupted our routines, followed by a global reckoning on race that turned a mirror on society. Three Black female creatives in Calgary – Sydonne Warren, Badria Abubaker and Tomi Ajele – are working to uplift Black voices and bring new perspectives to the city’s arts scene.

Across the mediums of art, film and writing, their work is a testament to unique self-expression that references and re-centres Black experiences and influences.

In celebration of Black History Month, the three women reflect on Calgary’s changing arts landscape and reimagine a new normal for Black art.

Sydonne Warren, award-winning visual artist

Artist Sydonne Warren is motivated by the goal of normalizing Black faces in Calgary’s public spaces, turning socially marginalized Black identities into opportunities to be seen, heard and represented. She’s known for her digital art, murals and expressive large-scale paintings, and she shares her craft by hosting local paint nights at various venues in Calgary.

Ms. Warren, 29, has had a creative spirit since childhood. Her path to become a visual artist started in 2013 when, inspired by local artists online, she taught herself to draw portraits while on maternity leave.

Later she decided to enrol at the Alberta University of Arts. Shortly after the pandemic lockdowns began in 2020, Ms. Warren became a muralist, painting and drawing every night until eventually being commissioned by companies to create murals.

She describes her time in lockdown as one where she put paint to canvas in order to craft meaning amid the chaos and disruption. “I was able to focus more on my practice because we were on lockdown,” she says. “It was like having an artist residency at home.”

As a way of understanding and experiencing her world, Ms. Warren consciously centres Black beauty in her work. Born in Jamaica, she moved to the Calgary area at the age of 3. She has combined studying her Jamaican culture with her own experience as a Black woman in Canada to conceptualize her voice through her art.

“Growing up, I’ve felt pressure to not fall into negative stereotypes about Black women,” she says. “I’ve learned to use my experiences with misogyny, ageism, racism alongside my perseverance and acceptance as keys to success in telling my story.”

Since the protests about racial justice that erupted in 2020, Ms. Warren hopes Black art will be established as part of a new normal in Calgary, with greater representation and freedom for Black artists.

“There are a lot of emerging Black artists who aren’t familiar with the industry,” she says. “I would like to see a show dedicated to up-and-coming Black artists to encourage networking, mentorship and sales.”

She remains inspired by something her partner told her earlier in her career, when she was feeling uncertain as a freelancer. “He said, ‘you’re an artist. Be an artist.’ Those words kept me focused on my passion and I still use those words to remind myself of what my purpose is.”

Badria Abubaker, journalist, film director and producer

In 2018, Badria Abubaker released Black Hair, a short documentary that explores racial stereotypes and controversies surrounding Afro-textured hair. The film’s intention was to spark dialogue about the experiences of those with natural Black hair in society. For Abubaker, it was a personal passion project that combined art, Blackness and media with visionary roots planted many years prior.

“I picked up my first camera in the eighth grade and instantly saw its endless potential for creation,” she says. “Although I was young, that moment sparked my love for film, giving me confidence.”

Born in Kenya, she moved to Alberta at the age of 2. Growing up, Ms. Abubaker naturally gravitated toward influences that pulled from the imagination to tell unique stories. She cites the careers of prominent Black female artists like Issa Rae who were pivotal in shaping her personal style of image-making.

“Issa Rae taught me to put work out there regardless of what people may say, because my creativity is unique, and not everyone needs to understand that,” she says.

Becoming more comfortable in her craft, the 27-year-old artist has resisted the pressure to conform and instead found her voice focusing on expanding narratives about Blackness. “I would like to see the Calgary art scene promote Black artists skilfully, and in a manner that doesn’t bind Black content to only align with the single narrative of ‘Black Struggle,’” she says.

Initially, Ms. Abubaker felt powerless during the pandemic, but she ultimately landed on gratitude as the way forward for her career. “I became grateful because it allowed me to gain perspective, learn the importance of patience, and implement it in everything I do, especially in my artwork,” she says.

For Ms. Abubaker, her future hopes for Black art representation are about shifting perspectives. “I hope to see Black artwork recognized for its talents, not fill a ‘Black quota,’” she says. “I hope people separate Black as a collective and start to see Black on an individual level. We are creative and Black – not creative because we are Black.”

Tomi Ajele, writer and editor-in-chief of Afros In Tha City

As the editor-in-chief of Afros In Tha City, a media collective dedicated to showcasing Black narratives, Tomi Ajele wishes for her writing to be a bridge for storytelling. “I wanted to create a platform where people can see themselves through stories, be themselves through community, and understand how they fit and that they belong,” she says.

Originally born in Nova Scotia, Ms. Ajele moved to the Calgary area at the age of 3. She never planned to pursue writing as a career, but she studied communications in university. “I used to love writing as a kid and was told I was atrocious at it (in my sister’s defence, I was), but that didn’t stop me,” she says. During her undergrad, Ms. Ajele used the versatility her communications degree provided to branch into both technical and creative writing, and she remembers “writing poem after poem as my way of speaking life into reality.”

Her first personal essay, “The Outsider’s Insight,” published in Shameless magazine in 2015, was the first time she told the story of growing up as a Black girl in the Prairies. “I was raised in and around Calgary, yet it was never a place I felt I belonged,” she says.

Black influences such as James Baldwin, Michele Pearson Clarke and Cadence Weapon all deeply impacted Ms. Ajele and were guiding lights on her creative journey. “These artists helped give voice to the nuanced experience of being Black and in Canada, or being Black and Canadian,” she says.

Now 27, with sights set on continuing to support Black futures, Ms. Ajele is seeking to merge justice with opportunity. “I want some of these barriers gone. It’s crazy what a lot of Black artists have to go through to ‘arrive,’” she says. “In order to build a successful career, Black artists often have to face racism and sexism but aren’t able to call it out because we don’t want to burn bridges in a world where connections are everything,” she says.

Ultimately Ms. Ajele wants to advance the work of other young, racialized writers, speakers and critical thinkers. “I want to see a point in time where Black folks don’t have to continue to choose between their career and their sense of humanity,” she says.

Her greatest piece of advice for up-and-coming Black creatives remains the same: Know your worth and put a price on your creative process, because your work is inherently important and necessary.

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