The Inadmissables were a collective I was a part of over the pandemic. Our aim was to create a film, visual glossary and a text that would raise awareness about the issue of medical inadmissibility in Canadian immigration law. The project was under the supervision of Professor Laura Bisaillon from UTSC and involved five student artists and myself. It has since expanded far beyond our initial film and has become an award-winning book.
You're welcome to look through the Visual Glossary I put together at the official project website by following this button.
Provided below is a small document I put together explaining the process behind the creation of the dictionary itself. If you cannot access the images for whatever reason, please contact me at ujwalmantha@gmail.com for a copy of the text.
A word about this project. It was conducted during a pandemic. Professor Bisaillon and I continue to work on various projects and I've had the pleasure of meeting her many times in the following years. I have not met a single one of my other team members. So, this entire project was done entirely online, over many thousands of miles across over four countries.
I was in India and I was scared. I can count on my fingers the number of times I left the house over the course of the project. And yet, we made art through the whole thing.
I'm reminded of a quote by Bertolt Brecht that I often return to:
"In the dark times
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
Will there also be singing?
Yes, there will also be singing.
About the dark times.”
-Bertolt Brecht
I do believe very strongly that as long as we keep making art, we're going to be okay. No matter how weird the world gets.
