Forget Me Project

The Peace with Justice group at ESG United Church regards the recently discovered tragedy of the unmarked graves of children who died in the residential schools in Canada as a matter of great concern and a disaster in the history of our relationship with the indigenous people in our great country.

In an effort to acknowledge and derive some focus, clarity and meaning from this unfortunate event, Suendrini Goonesekera, an award winning artist who works entirely with discarded and discontinued textiles has initiated a collaborative and multigenerational art project entitled “Forget Me”, which is nearing completion. 

Serving as an offering of acknowledgment and reflection, the piece consists of 215 individual fabric hearts, each representing the life of an indigenous child who did not return from the residential school they were forced to attend. The fabric hearts were designed and sewn by members of the public, from kits of  reclaimed textiles provided by Suendrini. A number of the members of the ESG community, including the youth group, have participated in preparing the hearts, with beautiful and fascinating results. To each completed heart Suendrini is currently in the process of attaching a pair of stylized children’s shoes, also created from the fabrics in her extensive library of up cycled textiles .

At our monthly meeting at 4 pm on November the 25th, the Peace with Justice group at ESG invited Suendrini to make a presentation on the conception, purpose, production and meaning of the piece with a view to ultimately displaying the finished product in the Eglinton Room at ESG when Covid restrictions are finally lifted. This will be a preview before moving on to the Sandbanks Music Festival and possibly other venues.

You can watch Suen’s presentation below.

For more information about Peace with Justice, please contact Bronwyn Best .