Earlier this year, six Ontario universities launched the , a project aimed at addressing the systemic barriers that exist in STEM fields for Indigenous and Black scholars and providing support and increased opportunities for those wanting to pursue Ph.D. degrees. Since then, IBET has expanded to include 12 partnering institutions, including 91社区.
is 91社区鈥檚 inaugural recipient of this landmark fellowship. An accomplished visual artist and scholar, Destiny began her doctoral studies in the Peter Guo-hua Fu School of Architecture this Fall. Her work attempts to reconcile the roots of racism in both art and architecture with an emphasis on Black narratives.
The Reporter spoke with Kirumira about her experiences in STEM and the arts, her research on Black Settlements in Canada, and the importance of preserving and celebrating Black spaces.
Tell us a bit about your background
I was born in Germany and lived there until I was about 9, so I grew up around beautiful, vibrant architecture. Being immersed in that space and having relatives and family friends that were architects really inspired me, and I decided early on to become an architect. As a kid, if you see someone that looks like you doing incredible work, you鈥檙e excited, right?
When my family moved to Canada, my main goal was to pursue architecture and return to Germany, but when I went back to visit, I felt very unsafe as a Black person. This was a transcendent moment because I didn鈥檛 have that experience growing up 鈥� I had heard certain things, but when you鈥檙e young, you don鈥檛 always register them as racism. I was also very shielded and protected by my parents. It was very heartbreaking since it was a big dream that I had, but I didn鈥檛 want to start my educational journey in a space where I didn鈥檛 feel safe.
I went on to do my Bachelor鈥檚 in math and physics as I really enjoyed the subjects and could use them to pursue architecture. A lot of people are shocked by this because there are not a lot of Black women in STEM, and I was the only Black woman in my class at the time, which is an experience I鈥檝e unfortunately gotten accustomed to my whole life.
During my undergrad studies, I did a minor in art to further explore the painting and drawing hobby I had my whole life. I started getting interested in Black representation in art and was repeatedly told to change my interest towards something more acceptable to the White art world. As a way of responding to these racist suggestions, I decided to paint works that juxtaposed historical paintings of Black people with more contemporary portraits of them as a way of exposing the problematic depictions of Black people throughout art history. I knew I wanted to paint great portraits of Black people, because they were so rare. Whenever we see Black people in paintings, they are always depicted as either the help or as shadows, barely having any features and never being named. The conversation that came out of it really helped me understand the expression of my own identity within art, but my art wasn鈥檛 seen as valuable, which really made me question my own value as a person and as an artist.
So, when I went on to do my Master鈥檚 at the University of Calgary, I was hopeful that I would get to dissect the Eurocentric standards that were the norm and really question how we鈥檙e building our buildings and who they are being built for. It wasn鈥檛 until my final year that I explored these ideas by designing a community centre for a historically Black community in downtown Calgary. Unfortunately, I wasn鈥檛 supported by my professors, but despite this, I felt that these topics were important enough to continue pursuing them in my own independent research into the history of Black Architectures here in Canada. I couldn鈥檛 find a lot of research pertaining to these architectures unfortunately and decided to use my research to hopefully fill this gap in Canadian architectural history. I then decided to apply to the architecture Ph.D. program at 91社区 because of its history in supporting research focused on social issues as well as its proximity to the Black Settlements in Montreal.
What will be your Ph.D. research focus?
The architecture of鈥疊lack Settlements in Canada鈥痜rom 1780-1930 [when there were] large influxes of Black migrants who had moved to Canada in hopes of having a better future. The first thing I hope to try and understand is their spatial experiences up to that point, which is rooted in where they moved from and what types of architectures they were exposed to.鈥疦ext, I hope to understand more about their cultural鈥痓ackgrounds,鈥痑nd then how that was manifested鈥痠nto鈥痶he architecture of the鈥痵ettlements.
An example鈥痜rom鈥痵ome of the research鈥疘鈥檝e already started looking into is the design of schools in some Black settlements. Many of the churches were鈥痗onverted into schools鈥痶o be able to facilitate a鈥痵afe鈥痵pace鈥痜or kids to鈥痩earn in because a lot of the neighbouring schools were still segregated and therefore weren鈥檛 accessible to Black kids.鈥疶he reason some of the鈥痗hurches鈥痺ere also built to鈥痩ook like houses,鈥痮r鈥痶o鈥痥ind鈥痮f鈥痓e鈥痗amouflaged,鈥痺as a way of safeguarding鈥痶hem鈥痓ecause a lot of their spaces had been vandalized,鈥痶orn down,鈥痮r burned.鈥疭o,鈥痶o鈥痬e, that鈥檚鈥痑n example of such an intentional and intricate鈥痙esign decision. My hope is鈥痶o鈥痳eally鈥痷nderstand鈥痶he design decisions they鈥痬ade and honestly champion and celebrate them.
What I have before me is a really complex issue. These spaces existed, but many of them have been demolished. One example is the African Nova Scotian community of Africville. The community was destroyed in 1960 to make room for industrial development. The community was forcibly removed and the former residents of Africville were scattered. But again, it鈥檚 the same story of the city not putting money or resources into the community, deeming it unsafe, and then demolishing it. This is a clear example of erasure of Black presence within a space, and it鈥檚 a serious problem still exists. It鈥檚 systemic, and obvious to me why this research hasn鈥檛 been done, but it just highlights why it鈥檚 so important to do now.
What do you hope to achieve with your work?
I want to be able to design Black spaces, and not from a place of 鈥淚 know the answer,鈥� but 鈥渨e can find the answer together.鈥� I need this research to be able to understand as a designer the decisions I should be making as well as how to listen to a community.
An outcome of鈥痬y thesis will be to create paintings depicting a lot of these spaces, as well as interpretations and鈥痳einterpretations of what the鈥痜uture could look like. It鈥檚 really important to capture them, to make them transcend time in a way because they鈥檒l be forgotten otherwise. It鈥檚 a way of sharing information and keeping it alive.
Making this information more accessible to me is really crucial, and I hope that years from now, this becomes basic knowledge and that it鈥檚 nothing spectacular to celebrate Black architecture in Canada. The fact that some of them still exist is incredible, and the fact that we can visit some of them is so important. This thesis is an opportunity to share what I鈥檓 finding with as many people as possible, and the fact that I paint helps in communicating it in a more transparent and honest way.
Which direction would you like to see architecture design and theory鈥痬ove towards?
Architecture has been very singular in many ways. If you look at its roots and the buildings we deem as significant, who has gotten credit for designing them? Mostly White men. Architecture is such a powerful tool, but what鈥檚 difficult is no one person has all the answers, and we are all coming at it with our own experiences. That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 so important for us to think about the users and listen to the needs of the community before the designing even begins. I think the goal of architecture should never be to inflate our own egos, but rather to try and solve some of the problems before us.
An example of listening to a community could be looking at what adjustments to the design can be made if we consider their specific experiences. For example, Black people are over-policed and surveilled, so what design features can be changed to prevent the feeling of being watched in public spaces? What are their interactions with being in a public space, and how can we design to either change those interactions or protect them?
Living in a space that鈥檚 not designed for you impacts how you think about yourself and your relationships with others, and so there needs to be a willingness to listen on the part of architects.
How does it feel to be the first IBET Momentum Fellowship recipient at 91社区?
It鈥檚 surreal and very, very humbling.
It鈥檚 significant for the Faculty of Engineering to support Black and Indigenous scholars because we鈥檙e still so underrepresented in STEM. I can鈥檛 even describe the things鈥痶hat have taken for me to get to this point. Generations of people, including my parents, have worked tirelessly to even put me in a position to have access to this opportunity.鈥疉nd so IBET is a chance for鈥痮ther people and for future generations to get these opportunities as well.
When I think about the value of this Fellowship, for one, it鈥檚 incredible to have people look at my work and see worth in it without me having to explain it further. It鈥檚 rare for me to come into a space and for my voice to be the first one people are interested in listening to as a Black woman, or even as woman in general. But I鈥檓 not the only person that has the answers and I don鈥檛 even have the answers quite yet. There are so many other Black community members, leaders, and scholars I hope to learn from and listen to as I go along on my journey.
I鈥痗an鈥檛 wait to see the other fellows who get it in the years to come鈥痑nd even meet other鈥痗urrent fellows throughout Canada.鈥疶hat, to me, is the real value of it 鈥� connecting others and鈥痝iving opportunities to people who鈥痭ormally wouldn鈥檛 get them.
This article was originally published in the .