Through our* workshops we invite artists the world over to participate in They Had No
Time to Say Goodbye, a multimedia collaborative installation about missing and
murdered Indigenous women in North America. The workshops are designed to educate
participants about the crisis of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls
(#MMIWG).
During the workshops participants view a video (link below) followed by a discussion.
They then draw portraits of North American Indigenous women on 9” x 8” tracing paper
to incorporate into the installation. These images represent the countless Indigenous
women who disappear without a trace.
Next, participants tape their drawings onto a window, or light box, tape an x-ray over it,
and etch their portrait onto the x-ray. This will be added to the installation after it has
been embellished with red paint (red being the color signifying the MMIW movement).
Those who choose not to etch portraits on x-rays are invited to donate their drawings of
Indigenous women to the project.
* “Our” refers to our collective of artists/activists: Kimberly Wahpepah (Diné), a survivor
of sex trafficking, now an advocate for survivors; Sandi Ludescher who is painting
portraits of actual missing and murdered Indigenous women to be included in our
installation; Linda Piper, Black activist, writer, theater director and storyteller. I am the
lead artist.