Conference Artwork (2025)
“Three Cities”
The theme "United by Diversity" emphasizes the importance of creating equitable educational opportunities for underrepresented communities. It highlights the need for system-level changes and social movements to address disparities in educational experiences and promote inclusivity, diversity, and equality. The theme resonates with the idea of embracing unique identities and experiences shaped by migration and cultural diversity, highlighting the importance of recognizing and valuing diverse backgrounds.
The depiction of different cities and landscapes in the artwork, by Mehdia Hassan, represents diverse environments and experiences that shape one's identity, with birds symbolizing the continuous journey of self-discovery. Education is seen as a vital instrument for achieving connection and transformation, fostering cross-cultural understanding, breaking down barriers, and empowering learners to contribute meaningfully to society. By fostering truly inclusive educational environments that cater to the needs of diverse learners, we empower students to contribute meaningfully to a continually evolving society. This alignment underscores the importance of fostering inclusive educational environments that empower diverse communities to thrive and contribute to a more just and inclusive world.
Critical Reflection and Dialogue
Reflecting on the connections between the artwork "Three Cities" and the conference theme "United by Diversity," several thought-provoking questions arise:
- How can educational institutions leverage creative arts to empower diasporic communities and promote equitable education?
- In what ways can the experiences of migration and identity formation inform educational practices that foster inclusivity and diversity?
- How can the ambiguity and motion depicted in the artwork inspire educators to create dynamic and flexible learning environments that cater to diverse needs?
- What role do creative arts play in challenging colonial structures and reimagining futures for marginalized communities within the education system?
- How can the themes of growth, transformation, and interconnectedness in the artwork be integrated into educational curricula to promote cross-cultural understanding and collaboration?
These questions encourage critical reflection and dialogue on the transformative power of education and creative expression in promoting unity, understanding, and equitable opportunities for all learners. By exploring these connections, we can deepen our understanding of how to create inclusive educational environments that empower diverse communities to thrive and contribute to a more just and inclusive world.
Mehdia Hassan (she/her) is a doctoral candidate at the University of Toronto, OISE, in the Department of Social Justice Education. Mehdia’s PhD research uses the art form of collage to explore the everyday learning experiences and stories of Afghan youth within their Toronto neighbourhoods and communities. Her research interests include: arts-based research and pedagogy, multilingualism, sociology of education, youth studies, and mental wellness. Her work is also inspired by her experiences as a visual artist, facilitating visual arts workshops for youth in her Toronto neighbourhood of St. James Town, for over 10 years. She has collaborated with various Toronto-based organizations to design, facilitate, and advise the development of community-engaged programming for young people in Toronto, including programs for Afghan youth mentorship, community safety, intergenerational sewing, and visual arts. In many ways, her work centres and advocates for youth agency. Mehdia is also interested in increasing knowledge mobilization between academic and public communities, through the arts and multilingualism. Her mixed media artwork on migration journeys has been featured in University of Toronto’s Research Revealed exhibition: https://researchrevealed.utoronto.ca/beyond-borders-and-hyphens-the-journeys-of-migration/. Mehdia’s arts-based research has also been featured in various exhibitions and international platforms, including most recently at UofT’s Hart House, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, and the University of Helsinki, Finland.
My painting "Three Cities" problematizes what it means to have a “homeland” and critically reflects upon my diasporic roots that have shaped my identity. These roots of migration in the soil are simultaneously routes of my family’s migration, when they were refugees travelling on horseback through the mountainous regions of Afghanistan. I am alluding to the long journeys my family began to Toronto, Canada, from Kabul, Afghanistan, when they fled the Soviet war. I reflect upon the formation of my identity while growing up within the urban geography of downtown Toronto. I also imagine future trajectories for myself in Thunder Bay, Canada, where the Sleeping Giant peninsula is located, on the Indigenous traditional territory of Fort William First Nation. I am travelling back and forth, across Lake Superior, while I am making meaning of where home is. The ambiguity of the birds being constantly in motion, without flying towards a particular site, represent the longings for futures of possibility. With my painting, as a form of arts-based inquiry and pedagogical possibility, I bring to light the critical question: To what extent do the creative arts provide members of diasporic communities with the agency to transform and reimagine their futures within colonial structures of the nation-state?
