Culture Shock presents:
Places of Rest: An interactive mapping experience

Nov. 22nd, 1:00 – 4:00 PM
Lev Bukhman Room (203), University Centre (3480 rue McTavish)

In this workshop, participants are invited to reflect and share places within the city that trigger memories of joy and pleasure. Our intention is to create a map of Montreal which features the places of rest BIPOC have found here. From these depictions, we will produce a document which can then be shared to other BIPOC students who are yet to come to the city. The lack of places to rest for BIPOC in the city are almost always intertwined with problems of safety and accessibility. This exercise highlights the way that we continue to navigate spaces that are not necessarily built for us, but that we can make our own nonetheless.

We want to ask individuals to do three things;
– Draw a map to the place/s
– Express a memory of this place, in whatever form suits the memory best
– Name the place, this can be formal, casual, or imagined

Spaces of rest in the city are also located in our imagination. Sometimes we daydream about places we wish we were at, or had, to feel safe and rested. We will also invite participants to share their imagined spaces which they believe should exist or have, over time, ceased to.

Mahika Gautam & Angel Quadry are architecture students, of Indian and Nigerian decent, born and raised in London. Much of our work, as the children of immigrants, focuses around these topics of space production and who has the right to the city. In this way, this workshop acts as a way to decolonise space, and ensures that we acknowledge the importance of individual relationships to the city.

Culture Shock is an annual event series on anti-racism, migrant justice, and Indigenous solidarity. It seeks to bring together racialized communities to discuss issues relevant to their lives, as well as to allow those who do not belong to these communities to learn more about struggles against racism, colonialism and border violence. Every year, QPIRG brings panels, workshops, film screenings, performance nights and fundraiser parties to McGill students and broader Montreal communities.

For more information email us at info@qpirgmcgill.org