Just Food will bring a new look to human rights issues in a display this month at the Mary Winspear Centre.
The Just Food art exhibition features 13 artists from Canada and around the world who add their voices to the growing number of people connecting the right to food with a faith-based response to hunger in the world.
“We’re just hosts, it’s not a church function. It’s more about human rights and using the arts to communicate that,” said pastor John Liira of Highway Christian Fellowship, the church on McDonald Park Road near Highway 17. “It has a very unique focus, it’s on justice and food issues. “
The artists, including six Canadians (one of them First Nations) and 12 other international artists from 13 countries, were given United Nations declarations as inspiration.
“It’s really highlighting some of the current issues with food accessibility and done in a visual format that is very compelling,” Liira said. “We’re just hoping that many people get to see it.”
The hope is that with this exhibit, people will be informed, equipped and motivated to exert themselves and their communities toward the goal of ending hunger — that just food will become just food.
“We’re very involved with the social justice and poverty issues as a faith based community,” Liira said. “People get to enjoy a really stimulating exhibition and be involved in social justice at the same time.”
He discovered the show, which has toured North America for about 18 months now, on the Canadian Food Grains Bank website. Admission is by donation with proceeds going to the Canadian Food Grains Bank.
“It’s one of the two primary arms for food aid in Canada,” Liira said. “It’s a reputable government recognized organization so we just want to highlight through the art exhibition there’s opportunity there for us to actually make a difference.”
Just Food comes to the front gallery of the Mary Winspear Centre with an opening gala reception by invitation on Saturday, June 2 and an open reception Thursday, June 21. The show runs to the end of June from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Saturday.