Mixtape Project Takes Up Space

Organized by Nestor Wynrush, the 2025 iteration of the Live Mixtape Project will be a multi-tier event, including an exhibition, performance, a living library, workshops, panel talks, and more. The exhibition is set to open in February, alongside Black History Month, and feature Black and Indigenous artists in WAG-Qaumajuq’s permanent collection.

Through art, the Mixtape Project hopes to showcase the intersections between Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities and draw attention to racial and accessibility issues. “Seeing the sparse amount of Black art in the WAG permanent collection was disheartening. It shows the neglect and the priorities of the city, the colonial narrative of the city – what was ‘valued’ as art…Black people have been in Manitoba for well over 100 years, yet our representation is so small,” says Wynrush.

The exhibition, titled Kin will use artworks created by Black and Indigenous artists to hold space for each other, be allies, and create community together. Curated by Wynrush and Julia Lafreniere, WAG-Qaumajuq Head of Indigenous Ways & Learning, the exhibition will be a central point to the project to facilitate important conversations.

The Mixtape Project wants to change the narrative around Black and Indigenous art and accessibility and invite conversations and collaborations with participants. “This all started very organically in 2017/18…I wanted to bring together established and emerging artists and have them collaborate on music and art together. Art helps us learn about each other, understand each other, it creates empathy, it’s very powerful.” Wynrush also stresses the need to make accessibility something that is irresistible. “If disabled people aren’t in the rooms, our needs will always be neglected, what helps disabled folks, helps everyone…The future has to be accessible.”

The 2025 Mixtape Project will largely take place in Gallery 3 of the WAG and will concentrate on hosting conversations about the art on the walls. “We really want to create a safe space for people, to create small groups with elders from Black and Indigenous communities to talk about the art, ask questions, discuss the history of the city, and Treaty 1. We want to bring the art into context and bring our communities together, I want our communities to see themselves being valued in public institutions like WAG-Qaumajuq.” Education will take centre stage, with special school programs and tours being offered during the run of the Project.

The Walls should reflect the community.
–Nestor Wynrush

“I think public institutions need to put all the puzzle pieces together and be a space where everyone in the community can gather, feel welcomed, and feel a sense of belonging.” Having Black and Indigenous art on the walls for longer than just a day, week, or month, is a way that the Gallery can have a prolonged dialogue about these issues. Partaking in conversations with all types of people – donors, collectors, minority communities, ensures that many perspectives are being voiced. “Having decision makers in the rooms where these conversations are taking place, that’s where the power lies – in creating a dialogue of understanding.”

The Mixtape Project will conclude with a concert on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, at WAG-Qaumajuq, but Wynrush hopes the conversations and changes won’t stop there. “I’ve been coming to the Gallery for a while now, and I can see the positive strides taking place, but we still have a long way to go. We need to keep reminding people that we can all change the narrative.”