Sankofa Dias: Visions of the Afrotopia

Jan. 21, 2022

Artist: Quentin VerCetty
Exhibition Dates: January 10–April 10, 2022
Zoom Reception with the Artist:

• • Wednesday, January 26 | 4–5pm
  • All are welcome | A free public event | Registration is required
  • REGISTER
  • This event will require a Zoom account. Details for registering for a free Zoom account can be found at: www.zoom.us. You will receive a link to the event following registration.

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Gallery/Library Building Hours:
Monday–Friday, 10am–1pm; 2–5pm*
Saturday & Sunday, Closed
*University COVID-19 restrictions may change based on University and Government health and safety protocols.

Exhibition Statement

Sankofa Dias: Visions of the Afrotopia explores the philosophy and concepts of “Sankofa” as revealed in the art movement and framework of Afrofuturism. Taking inspiration from the sculptural works of the ancient Nok (1500 BC), Ifè empire of West Africa (11th CE) and the Aksum of East Africa (100 CE), this body of work explores reclaiming the idea of the “Afrotopia” as a safe space for Black existence that includes representation of Blackness in the landscape. The works in this exhibition collectively deconstruct the misconception that monument making lacks roots in African cultural history and that Black representation is not worth monumentalization or acknowledgment. By evaluating the past we can forecast a better future where art interrogates the celebration of the everyday person in place of imperial, colonial, or militaristic subjects. Each work becomes an embodiment of sankofa teleporting; a call back to the past while being a speculation of what could be. Featured works include digital sculpted three dimensional rendered work and animation from the collection entitled Outside the Republic.
— Quentin VerCetty

Artist Biography

Quentin VerCetty is a multidisciplinary visual griot, artpreneur, educator, artivist, and an ever-growing interstellar tree. He graduated with a Bachelors of Fine Arts from the Ontario College of Art and Design and with a Masters in Art Education from Concordia University. His art practice focuses on social political issues and the imaginative futures of representation and preservation of the memories of people of African descent. VerCetty is one of the foundational leaders of the International Black Speculative Arts Movement (BSAM) and co-editor of the first Canadian Afrofuturism art anthology, Cosmic Underground Northside: An Incantation of Black Canadian Speculative Discourse and Innerstandings (2020), which highlights works of over 100 Black Canadian artists in the growing contemporary art movement of Afrofuturism.

In 2020 VerCetty won the Joshua Glover Memorial competition, Toronto’s first monument in honour of a person of African descent and in 2010 he received the Governor’s General Bronze Medal award. VerCetty has become one of the world’s leading Afrofuturist a/r/tographers; coining the terms Sankofanology as a lens and Rastafuturism as a concept. Through his work, VerCetty hopes to continue to honour his ancestors, engage minds, inspire hearts, and help to make the world a better place.

Quentin VerCetty currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario.

For more information on VerCetty’s art practice at be found at https://www.vercetty.com/