North York artist and activist Franke James returned from a trip to Washington, D.C., this past October where she unveiled her unique protest art. Six posters were hung at different city bus stops as part of her “Oh No Canada” anti–tar sands campaign.
The posters feature slogans such as “Do not talk about climate change” and take aim at Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s government.
Two years ago, shortly before she was to embark on an extensive European art tour, government funding was pulled from the tour without explanation. James filed a request under the Access to Information Act.
“This ludicrous statement that I found in one of the access documents [said] ‘The artist’s work dealt mostly with climate change and was advocating a message that was contrary to the government’s policies.’ Another way to say that is, ‘do not talk about climate change. It is against Canada’s policy,’ ” James said.
James has since used her art to aggressively fire back and spread awareness through creative means.
