Acknowledgments

I was born in Iran and migrated to Canada in 2015 as a refugee. I feel privileged to be here on this land at this moment. I feel grateful that I can occupy spaces in this world to speak my thoughts. I feel hopeful and excited that I can dream and imagine and draft infinite possibilities. I feel vulnerable and brave that I can share my struggles as a diasporic migrant who carries an embodied experience of pain, trauma, and depression. I feel blessed to exist and am accountable to know my purpose.

I am obliged to practice kindness and stepping with care as I live, work, and grow on the ancestral and traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples–Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ/Selilwitulh (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) Nations in Vancouver, CA. I honour with gratitude their past, present and future and I acknowledge the unceded Indigenous Sovereignty of these lands, which means that they were never ceded.

Thank you to my colleagues at the library who all supported me throughout this research without any hesitation. To Angela and Ana for their continues support and mentorship. To Emma for watching from a distance and stepping in to boost my energy and calm me down when needed. To Michael for helping out with the exhibition’s installation. And the whole library team trusting me with full agency and autonomy to do the work. This trust and independency, which is not often fully granted as student has made all the difference.

Thank you to mentors from a distance, to Taryn, Pat, Leah, David, and Lori. And last but not least, thank you to all my peers. For stepping up and actually doing the labour, conducting the work and generously providing feedback wanting to make a better community. Thank you!

References

Taryn Goodwin https://www.taryngoodwin.ca/

Catalogue: the Missing Culture of ECUAD (Taryn asked to hold onto the catologue so she could edit it, this is for many months ago though, I can contact her again to see if she can provide us with a copy)

Taryn’s interview: Taryn Goodwin Is Building a Community of Disabled and Neurodivergent Artists, “the confidentiality of access”

Taryn has many good resources on her website and through a simple search you can also access lots of stories, interviews, and initiatives she’s taken especially at ECU when she completed her MFA. I’ve known Taryn and worked with her when she was a student at ECU before she graduated. I always look up to her and continue to learn from her immense knowledge around accessibility and more importantly how she was able to uplift and bring the community together in such an effective, beautiful and transformational way.