Some stories never made it into the archive.
Not because they weren’t important, but because no one was recording them.
That’s the gap Donna Paris has been working in for years.
As the founder of In the Black Canada, Paris has travelled across the country documenting the lived experiences of Black Canadians; through interviews, photography, and community memory. Not summaries. Not timelines. Stories, told by the people who lived them or carried them forward.
Now, that work is arriving in Nova Scotia in a new form.
“Black Threads of the Canadian Tapestry” is a photographic and audio exhibition that brings those stories into public space. The project, developed by Paris alongside photographer David Ofori Zapparoli, features portraits and oral histories from Black Canadians across the country—many of them accessible through QR codes that allow visitors to hear directly from participants.
At its centre is a larger idea, one Paris spoke to in her earlier interview with BlackNovaScotia.ca:
That Black history in Canada is not separate from the national story. It is part of its structure.
That includes the stories people were never taught:
Prairie settlements formed by families fleeing Jim Crow.
Communities like Hogan’s Alley in Vancouver and The Bog in Prince Edward Island that were erased.
And closer to home, the histories tied to Nova Scotia that continue to surface through family memory, not institutions.
This exhibition builds on that same work—moving it from conversation into something people can walk through, see, and hear.
📍 Upcoming Events & Exhibition Details
Exhibit Launch — Halifax
Patrick Power Library, Saint Mary’s University
🗓 Saturday, March 21, 2026
🕑 2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
📌 Held on the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination
The exhibition will remain on display throughout the library from March 21–28, featuring a central large-scale banner alongside a series of photographs placed across the space. Each image includes QR codes linking to oral history interviews, allowing visitors to engage directly with the voices behind the work.
More Info: [CLICK HERE]
Meet the Artists — Truro
Truro Public Library
🗓 Thursday, March 26, 2026
🕑 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM
More Info: [CLICK HERE]
For those who followed our earlier conversation with Donna Paris, this project will feel familiar.
For those encountering it for the first time, it’s a direct introduction to the kind of history that has always been here—but rarely presented this way.
You can revisit our full interview with Donna Paris, including video, here:
👉🏾 Mapping Black Canada: Donna Paris on Migration, Memory, and Erased Communities [VIDEO] 👈🏾
Because there’s always more to the story.
