A bold collection of contemporary black art

Black Canadian history didn’t end when the Underground Railroad stopped shuttling slaves north roughly 150 years ago. Here We Are Here provides a vital update on what it means to be a black Canadian from the antebellum era to today. The show includes paintings, photography, video and installations by nine contemporary artists. Bushra Junaid augments old-timey images of kids in sugar cane fields with artfully cut newspaper clippings; Esmaa Mahomoud riffs on the NFL’s take-a-knee controversy with an outfit constructed of football gear and African beads and fabrics; and Sylvia D. Hamilton’s powerful poetry is inspired by dehumanizing descriptions of slaves: “stout wench / 3 scars on each cheek / lame of left arm.”