Wood Green art workshop to spotlight struggles of indigenous women

Participants will get to draw portraits of indigenous women which will then be incorporated into a multimedia art installation, writes Taro Kaneko

An indigenous women’s art workshop in Wood Green will be taught by an award-winning artist.

The North American artist, Rose Marie Prins, will be hosting a workshop at the Collage Arts Centre to educate participants on the missing and murdered indigenous women.

Participants of the workshop will get to draw portraits of North American indigenous women which will be incorporated into a multimedia art installation, They Had No Time to Say Goodbye.

The painting instructor is currently traveling across Europe conducting art workshops to highlight the crisis facing Indigenous women and girls in North America.

Rose said: “I lost my only child eight years ago. As a result I know very intimately the experience of losing a child. When I first moved back to New Mexico, a billboard in Albuquerque with the face of a young Native American woman with one word ‘HOMICIDE’ struck me deeply.

“This entire project is motivated by my empathy for the mothers of Indigenous women and girls.

“The way in which apartheid-era South Africa met its demise is an inspiration for me. it was pressure from the international community that eventually helped put an end to apartheid. Holding workshops in a variety of communities worldwide is a good start.

“Albuquerque is one of the two cities in the USA from which indigenous women disappear at an alarming rate.”

According to Amnesty International indigenous people “experience the same harsh realities all over the world”. The charity adds: “Their human rights are routinely violated by state authorities, and they face high levels of marginalisation and discrimination.”

For over two decades, Rose Marie has taught drawing, sculpting and painting across colleges and universities in the United States.

The workshops will be running on the Thursday, 3rd October, from 4pm-6.30pm and 6.30pm-8.30pm, at 4 Coburg Road, Wood Green N22 6UJ. All portraits will be hung at the art centre by 8pm.

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