A red dress installation has been displayed outside the Tay Township municipal office to honour the more than 1,000 missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls in Canada.
A group of local Tay Township women brought the REDress Project to their community and are encouraging residents to participate in it.
WATCH: REDress Project: Aesthetic response to missing, murdered Indigenous women in Canada
“You can take part by hanging a red dress outside your home or business,” said Bonnie Sheriff, one of the local residents who helped bring the installation to Tay Township, in a statement.
On Thursday, the red dresses were placed outside Tay Township’s municipal office following a smudging ceremony and traditional drumming.
The REDress Project was launched in Winnipeg by Métis artist Jaime Black in 2010, and has since expanded to Tay Township and other communities.
In an artist’s statement, Black said that the red dresses evoke a presence through the marking of absence.
“We appreciate the opportunity to help bring awareness to this critical national issue,” local mayor Ted Walker said in a statement.
The REDress Project will be exhibited at Tay Township’s municipal office until May 12.