A collection of works featuring Vancouver based artists, Aisha Kiani, Germain Ekra, Mathew Delorme-King and Rakim. I Dream Library: Archiving Institutional Erasure, Collective Resistance, and Memories that Keep us Growing is a story of complex representation, with themes of resistance, oppression, migration, community and collaboration.
Reimagined archival materials alongside visual and mixed media works invite visitors to consider what it means to be learning, teaching, playing, dreaming, fighting erasure, and building community all in the same day.
This exhibit is in conversation with current calls to action and the liberation of Indigenous people on Indigenous territories across the world.
Reimagined archival materials alongside visual and mixed media works invite visitors to consider what it means to be learning, teaching, playing, dreaming, fighting erasure, and building community all in the same day.
This exhibit is in conversation with current calls to action and the liberation of Indigenous people on Indigenous territories across the world.
|
|
|
|
I DREAM LIBRARY, 2019 - 2025
I Dream Library is an interdisciplinary education and arts activism project from Aisha Kiani and Rakim. Through digital and research archives, immersive experiences, exhibitions, and community-centered initiatives, I Dream Library invites individuals of all ages to reflect on the transformative power of libraries—not just as physical spaces, but as living archives of collective memory, culture, and imagination.
At the heart of I Dream Library is a belief in the library as a metaphor for liberation through infinite possibility: a space where ideas are constantly being rediscovered, reimagined, and reinterpreted. The organization’s artworks and programming includes visual art, literature, design and digital media, with a focus on creating environments where the boundaries between reality, dreams, and learning dissolve. Their work has been commissioned by and exhibited in the Vancouver Art Gallery, Museum of Vancouver, Arts Umbrella, Museum and Archives of North Vancouver, Artspeak Gallery, and more. By engaging diverse artists, curators, educators, and audiences, I Dream Library fosters a collaborative space for critical reflection, creative exchange and collective imagination.
I Dream Library’s projects emphasize accessibility and intersectionality, aiming to make 2SQTI/BIPoC neurodivergent and disability inclusive literature, art and knowledge more approachable and transformative for all. By exploring themes of memory, identity, history, and futurism, I Dream Library serves as a catalyst for dialogue on the role of libraries and archives in social justice movements, public education, and cultural (re)formation. Check out the digital archive of books, exhibits, film and more here!
|
|
Mathew Delorme-King
Mathew is Woodland Cree / Red River Métis and was born and raised in “Edmonton, Alberta” Treaty No.6 territory. Now residing in so-called “Vancouver”. Mathew is a storyteller through his beadwork, photography, and modelling. Being a former youth in care, Mathew strongly advocates for youth empowerment through his work and art.
Mathew Delorme-King Artwork
Photo of Victor Corpuz, 2022
Tiwa territory, North Domingo Baca Skatepark, New Mexico
B/W photo series, 2021
Skate for Change
Dustin Henry & Rakim at Antisocial Skateboard Shop
xwməθkwəy̓ əm, Skwxwú7mesh, & səlilwətaɬ shared territory, Vancouver, BC
|
|
Germain Ekra
Germain Ekra Born in Bonoua, Ivory Coast in 1993. Moved to Toronto in 2003, living and working in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Email: [email protected]
( 1 )
|
( 2 )
|
( 1 ) Bonoua 2025
The story of my upbringing in Bonoua, the story of family, discovery but also resilience and overcoming.
( 2 ) Brothers Success 2025
Coming from any immigrant family, success is viewed through the academics which both my brothers have accomplished.
In this piece, I am showing my chosen path forward, forming another type of success story.
|
|
Blame 2024
Taking and rejecting blame for a lot of things that are happening to us or around us. I took a lot of blame and I still do for the passing of a family member for not being there, for not helping quick enough.
Taking and rejecting blame for a lot of things that are happening to us or around us. I took a lot of blame and I still do for the passing of a family member for not being there, for not helping quick enough.
|
|
Practice
Rakim and Aisha Kiani, 2025
Practice is an art piece that is a way I can connect my love for graffiti art and basketball.
Rakim and Aisha Kiani, 2025
Practice is an art piece that is a way I can connect my love for graffiti art and basketball.
|
|
Cistems will System / Freedom to Teach
Aisha Kiani, 2025
This text-based series looks at the system of White supremacy and allyship performance that trump DEI commitments, claims, and policies in Canadian schools and libraries. The title comes from responses to acts of discrimination locally and nationally:
( 1 ) Cistem’s will System is an ode to the Vancouver School District 39's (VSB) antiracism and DEI specialist, Destine Lord, who apathetically responded, ”systems will system” when directly asked to use her power to end the racist, queerphobic, transphobic, and ableist ban on I Dream Library in the VSB. The ban is currently being upheld and enforced by VSB’s Diversity Department, which includes Pedro Da’Silva (Associate Superintendent of LIT & Educational Services), Destine Lord, and Hieu Pham-Fraser (District Principal – Equity, Antiracism and Oppression)
( 2 ) Freedom to Teach is a national campaign launched by I Dream Library in 2025 during Freedom to Read week in Canada (February 23 - March 1). The campaign seeks to give voice and understanding to how education bans function in Canada.
Cistems will System / Freedom to Teach references The Pan African Flag, Palestinian Flag, Pride Flag, and the artwork Forbidden Colors (1988), by Félix González-Torres.
Sign the petition to end bans on BIPoC 2SLGBTQIA+ disability and neurodivergent inclusive books, education and teaching resources in Canada!
|
|
FISHING NET by Aisha Kiani, 2024
Fishing Net is a library of text and textile created as an artwork in response to the Museum and
Archives of North Vancouver (MONOVA) exhibit Agents of Change: Chief Dan George Legacy,
and in connection with the installation Young Activist Reading Room: Speak With Me (YARR)
from I Dream Library.
The net is braided using fabric that represents 6 cultures whose stories are shared in the YARR.
These cultures converged on səlilw̓ ət (the Burrard Inlet). Patterns represent those who came
from this shore, those who came to this shore, and how they lived and worked together over the
last 100 years: Indigenous people in Canada, Japan, Northern India, Hawaii, West African
descendants (African American, Caribbean, African Canadian), and European descendants.
Fishing Net’s colour palette is inspired by the book Blue: A History of the Colour as Deep as the
Sea and as Wide as the Sky by Nana Ekua Brew-Hammond and Daniel Minter. Blue is a colour
that was historically rare to reproduce, due to its complex production process. This made blue
fabric inaccessible to those who weren’t royalty or wealthy. Over time, production of indigo
created greater access to this colour but at the cost of enslaved West African people’s lives and
freedom. The invention of synthetic indigo dye in the late 19th century created a significant shift
in access and classification of what it meant to wear blue. In the 20th century, blue denim
became synonymous with the working class, especially those working in port communities as
longshoremen and in natural resource industries such as fishing, forestry, and agriculture.
Fishing Net textiles include denim, stretch denim, plaids, linen, and printed cotton fabric.
Hand-cut strips of fabric are braided together to make one long continuous rope. The rope is
formed into a net using a basic fishing net knot-tying technique. The braided rope represents a
unifying cultural connection between Indigenous, Asian, and African people. Our histories share
the sacred and spiritual practice of braiding, especially our hair. It’s a slow and intentional
process of care, bonding, storytelling, and cultural education.
Fishing Net carries news articles spanning 100 years (1913 - 2015) and highlights Indigenous
stewardship of the land, water, and the People of the Inlet, səlilwətaɬ. This part of the artwork is
inspired by the book It Stops Here: Standing Up for Our Lands, Our Waters, and Our People by
Reuben George with Michael Simpson. The articles were gathered with the support of the
Museum of North Vancouver and Archives team (original copies can be found there).
Each article has been deconstructed and shared as excerpts with important points related to
Indigenous stewardship, collaboration, and worldview. The source name and date can be found
on the back of each envelope and excerpt. The size of each envelope, image, and text excerpt,
is similar to that of an Instagram post, reflecting the impact of social media as news sources for
younger generations. In this way, Səlilwətaɬ activism is made accessible through a tactile format
that encourages visitors of all ages to reach for learning in small doses.
|
|
|
|
Keep up with the Artists
IDream Library
Aisha Kiani and Rakim
Germain Ekra
Mathew Delorme-King
