Research summary
The Pacific shore, often framed and understood as Indigenous and Asian, is also a place that Black people call home and where Black knowledge abounds. As Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies, Dr. Phanuel Antwi is examining Blackness in relation with Asianness and Indigeneity, and their shared Pacific knowledges.
To investigate how multiple histories intersect in the region, Antwi and his research team are establishing the Studio for Racial and Colonial Tidalectics—an innovative laboratory for collaboration, artistic creation and critical encounter. The studio will be a place to explore what we know and how we come to know it through the body, particularly the racialized body. It will support a range of faculty, staff and students while facilitating meaningful engagement with local, national and international partners. Ultimately, the aim is to transform how we think about Pacific history, contemporary civic relationships, and Blackness in Canada.