Do not forget me. The title of the mural that Kezna Dalz will create aims to challenge festival-goers about the rise of feminicides throughout the world, but also here, in Montreal and throughout Quebec. In Canada, so far in 2024, according to figures from the Canadian Femicide Observatory for Justice and Accountability, 48 women and girls have been killed by men. The figure reached 40 in Quebec alone in 2020, then in 2021, according to the provincial government. “It’s so shocking,” says the visual artist, who is also known under the pseudonym Teenadult.
By participating in the 12e edition of the Mural Festival, Kezna Dalz intends to pay tribute to all these women, cis and trans, as well as to each non-binary person who have, in a certain way, been forgotten after their death. For the most important work of her career as a muralist, it was therefore essential for her to offer something meaningful. “I want what I do to have an impact and send a message,” emphasizes the artist. If we regularly hear about femicide in the media, she fears that the public will eventually become desensitized to the cause. “We must not forget that there are always people to help and that we must work to have the right resources,” she adds.
At the intersection of Rachel and De Bullion streets, not far from the festival activities planned on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, the artist will, from June 6, storm the walls of Café Névé to paint his mural, which will feature fictional people from different origins and backgrounds, as usual. “Because it’s to denounce femicide, I gave them facial expressions that were both affirmative and vulnerable,” she explains. Its characters will also be accompanied by a dove and flowers, and will be tenderly enveloped in dazzling colors. “It automatically catches the eye, and I think the messages can be conveyed thanks to the vibrant colors,” adds Kezna Dalz. A palette that also allows you to bring a little softness to these heavy subjects.
And Kezna Dalz continues, making some revelations about Do not forget me : “I don’t usually do this, but I drew oversized ears on my characters to show that listening in these situations, before the worst happens, is essential. » A particularity which thus echoes the title of the mural.
Things to tell
“My works are political in spite of myself,” confides the artist, who uses his status to transmit a precise message to as many people as possible. “I like to represent characters that we don’t see enough in public space, and that’s political in a certain way,” she says. Racialized characters and bodily diversity are, in fact, omnipresent in his work. “It’s not my ultimate intention to be political, but I am for more representation. » It is true that today, anything that is not strictly part of the norm quickly becomes a matter of advocacy, or even activism.
“If we are lucky enough to have a platform to send a message, in 2024, when we have the impression that the world is burning, it is definitely a good opportunity to seize,” says Kezna Dalz. In the same vein, the artist was invited last February by the Montreal Canadiens to reinterpret its logo as part of Black History Month. An illustration that was shown to thousands of spectators at the Bell Center and printed on t-shirts and hoodies. In addition, his Instagram page, which has more than 12,000 subscribers, is full of colorful publications with unequivocal declarations: “ Free Palestine “, “ Defund the police “, etc.
Kezna Dalz didn’t get this far by chance, since she mentions being interested in art… and politics for a long time. “I studied humanities and political sciences, but I quickly realized that it was not for me, because I am very sensitive,” she says. For the artist, things took a serious turn in the middle of the pandemic, when she was able to devote herself entirely to her passion. “I was still drawing alongside my jobs, and the demand became stronger and stronger…” she explains.
For Kezna Dalz, however, murals, like art in general, don’t have to be political. “We also need things that can simply be beautiful. » His bet to make art more accessible seems successful: Do not forget mewhich promises to be part of a dapper aesthetic, is just as relevant.