Safe Passage
An Exhibition Celebrating Trans* Communities across Turtle Island
Safe Passage is an exhibition currently being built by Jai Sallay-Carrington with the help of their incredible team of trans / two-spirit / gender diverse artists.
Exhibition will be held at SUM Gallery in June 2027 in Vancouver BC.
With many thanks to Canada Council for the Arts for funding this project!
What is this Project About:
Safe Passage is an exhibition of ceramic sculptures which celebrates trans* communities across Turtle Island (Canada). It is important to illuminate the hope and continued resistance of the people whose identities have existed long before colonization, and who will continue existing no matter how hard certain governments try and erase them.
There are many identities that fall within the category of trans*, which has been adopted as an umbrella term to encompass the many gender expressions which are not cis-gender. It is important to understand that although this term encompasses many experiences, they are all unique to each person based on the intersectionality of all aspects of identity, such as race, disability and class. Our culture is built on the colonization of stolen land, built by immigrants and which operates on systematic racism, therefore Black, Indigenous and people of colour who are trans will have a very different experience than those who are not. We need to acknowledge that it is those who society has pushed down the most, are the ones who have to fight the hardest to be seen, and those are the ones we have to thank for any legal rights and protections that we all have today.
This exhibition is a multifaceted project which will take place over this next year, June 2026 until June 2027. It includes the making of life-sized ceramic figures, community engaging activities, oral storytelling, and visual representations of the activists who paved the way for us today.
Two Ways to get Involved:
1) Oral Storytelling
TRANS PEOPLE, SEND ME YOUR STORIES
Do you identify as transgender, non-binary, two-spirit, agender, genderqueer, or any gender identity which falls outside of the cisgendered experience? I WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!
I am collecting stories of trans* people across Turtle Island to be included in this exhibition. Stories of trans love, gender affirmation/euphoria, acceptance, community, hope, resistance, chosen families and liberation. Tell me about your support networks, about the reasons you keep fighting, about that friend or loved one who is always there when you need them…all that good stuff!
The world is full of terrible things happening to marginalized people, but the strength and resilience that grows from those hardships is part of the reason we have such a strong community. Queer and trans people, especially people of colour, have always had to stand up to oppression, the strength of our communities is what supports those at the forefront of those battles.
How to Record:
Open a voice note or voice memos app on your phone to record it
Try to be in a quiet space with no background noise, use the best microphone you have access to (some headphones are better quality than just using a phone)
Do a quick test before recording
Hit record! Start with your name (whatever name you want shared, this will be playing in the gallery during the exhibition), your age, general location, and how you identify (gender, race, disability, whatever you want to share), then tell me your stories!
You are welcome to send one or multiple stories as individual voice notes
How to share the audio:
Once you have recorded the story, click the “share” button and click the email option, so you can attach it to an email.
In the subject line of the email, write Safe Passage Audio
Send it to: exhibitions@jscreatures.com
Below are two sample stories. Thank you and I am excited to hear from all of you!
2) Community Mosaic Project
Another component to this exhibition will be a mosaic made by members of the local queer and trans communities, as well as allies. This mosaic will be integrated into the ceramic sculptures in the exhibition. Members of the local Vancouver (and surrounding area) will be invited in to build and paint these mosaic pieces which celebrate queer and trans communities. All materials supplied by the artist, this is a great way to connect with others in your community and be a part of a big art project which will be traveling the country!
Want to host a mosaic event? email me! jai@jscreatures.com
Mosaic events in Vancouver
Sept 26, 1-5pm- Cross and Crow Books (2836 Commercial Drive, Vancouver, BC)
Oct 17, 1-4pm, Chu Chu Chinatown (247 Keefer St, Vancouver, BC)
Day/time TBA- SUM Gallery (Suite 425 – 268 Keefer St, Vancouver, BC)
Scroll down to join my mailing list to be notified when these events are open for sign up! Or follow me on instagram
MEET THE TEAM
I have an incredible team of talented artists and activists who are all trans/2-spirit/gender diverse! I am honoured to have everyone be a part of this project.
Ceramic Artist/ Assistant: Pedram Penhan (they/them)is a non-binary self taught artist based in Vancouver, BC. Pedram uses clay and ceramics as their medium for self-expression and storytelling specifically through sculptures and figurative art, focusing on intersections between social topics such as gender, sexuality, identity, alterity, systemic oppression and our interconnection with our environment, mainly through the perspective of being a displaced, racialized individual in a colonized country. Pedram has worked with multiple communities and nonprofit organizations across Canada in the past decade and has showcased their work in several group exhibitions. (The most recent one being Kinship @SUM Gallery, curated by Jai Sallay Carrington.)
Pedram currently works as a manager and a community-building consultant at a community pottery studio in Kitsilano, Vancouver.
Ceramic Artist/ Assistant: Danya Gorodetsky (she/her) is an artist and educator specializing in drawing, ceramics, and comics. She currently lives and works in Vancouver on the unceded traditional territories of the Sḵwx̱ wú7mesh, xwməθkwəy̓ əm, and səlilwətaɬ Nations. Danya teaches children and youth ages four to twenty-five a variety of disciplines ranging from ceramics and pottery to comics, illustration, drawing and painting, printmaking and darkroom photography.
Her work has been exhibited internationally at Festival KOMA (Czech Republic) and locally in several group shows. She has been featured at the Contemporary Art Gallery of Vancouver and SUM Gallery for the Queer Arts Festival of Vancouver.
Photographer: Yin Mei (She/Her) (b. 2002, Xi’an, China) is a photo-based mixed-media artist working with photography, digital media, projection mapping, typography, and poetry. Her practice is centered on the exploration of queer Chinese trans identities, trans-fem experiences, and generational trauma in context with the sinophone diaspora. is currently practicing as an emerging artist in the stolen and traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh First Nations, “Vancouver, BC”
Ceramic Artist/ Assistant: Felix Thomas (they/them) is a trans non-binary ceramicist who specializes in glaze chemistry and sculpture. Drawing on inspiration from Kiki Smith, the writings of Julia Kristeva, and others, they use their art to centre their lived experience as an exploration of queerness, transness, and mental illness.
Ceramic Artist/ Assistant: Charlie Sandeman (he/they) is a sculptural artist living on the occupied lands of the Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish), Səl̓ílwətaʔ (Tsleil-Waututh) and xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam) First Nations. Working primarily in ceramics while exploring other sculptural mediums, his work explores themes related to trans and queer identity, chronic illness, neurodiversity and belonging. They recently graduated with a diploma in Fine Arts from Langara College.
Audio Technician/ Musician: Kee McEvoy (they/them/she/her)
