Bushra Junaid is a Nigerian-Canadian multidisciplinary artist, curator, author and arts
administrator. She was born in Montréal to Jamaican and Nigerian parents, and raised in
Newfoundland and Labrador. Her background and experiences have given her a unique
perspective on what it is to be Black in Canada. Currently based in Toronto, Junaid has described
her artistic focus:
“I’m interested in ideas of visibility and invisibility/erasure, longing, and belonging,
being betwixt and between, claiming and creating a home or place for oneself.”
In her work, Junaid explores history, memory and cultural identity through her artistic practice in
mixed-media collage, drawing and painting. Junaid’s work also explores themes of Blackness,
the African diaspora and the history of Atlantic Canada. She often uses found materials to create
lively, engaging works of collage. For example, she used this technique when she illustrated the
children’s book “Nana’s Cold Days,” written by Adwoa Badoe and published by Groundwood
Books in 2009. It was Junaid’s first foray into book illustration.
In 2020, Junaid curated the critically acclaimed exhibit “What Carries Us: Newfoundland and
Labrador in the Black Atlantic,” shown at The Rooms in St. John’s. Junaid recognized the
disparity between the visibility of settler colonial history in Newfoundland and Labrador, which
is well documented, and the region’s Black history, with its strong historical connection between
Newfoundland and the legacy of plantations during the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade. In the
exhibit, she sought to express and explore these disparate realities. The exhibit also inspired
Junaid’s powerful, poetic book, “The Possible Lives of W.H., Sailor” (Halifax: Nimbus Books,
2022). Aimed at grades four to six readers, the book includes a timeline tracking the Black
experience in North America, as well as material for further discussion.
Junaid has exhibited her works across Canada, in provincial galleries and artist-run centres,
including at Painted City Gallery, Galerie Céline Allard, Spence Gallery, Eastern Edge Gallery,
Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Reference Library, the NFB, and Sandra Brewster’s Open House.
(Sources: Wikipedia, Quill and Quire, CBC News Nfld. & Labrador)
Photo source: https://byblacks.com/directory/artists/writers/6318-bushra-junaid
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