In an era where social distancing and isolation have become the norm, it’s important to find creative ways to share positivity with the global community. With every day that passes, we see the effects of hate in our world. We see oppression and all sorts of harm befall people of every ethnicity, nationality, and religion. We see the Earth stained with the blood of people who want nothing more than the right to live their lives. We see the marionettes of mischief take centre stage while hate plays the role of puppet master behind the scenes, pulling the strings and pitting audiences against each other in the process. Countries, families, and communities are being torn apart because of hate, but love is the glue that keeps us together. Spreading love is a collaborative effort that members of a community must make in order to heal, and a member of the UBCO Community is part of a global effort to do just that.
Garvin LeBlanc, a 23 year-old Visual Arts major at UBCO, is among the 160 artists featured in "Love Always Wins”, a global collaborative art initiative started by Gabriel Morais. The project was conceived to combat the hate spread by President Trump, but fighting against one type of hate is a step towards fighting all types of hate. The project is an eclectic collection, featuring 160 artworks by artists from 160 countries all over the world. Each artwork is a piece inspired by the phrase “Love Always Wins,” and also features the phrase in each artist’s local language. It’s amazing that so many communities, including the UBCO community, were able to be represented in this positive collaboration.
LeBlanc represents his home country, the Commonwealth of Dominica (not the Dominican Republic), and his native Kwéyol language in the project. His piece features a non-binary champion, with a gold medal around its neck and a heart held high over its head like a trophy. It’s a warm coloured composition that echoes stories of being an artist from a tropical country. LeBlanc has been on a journey of finding his definition of self love and the launch of the project has been a catalyst in finding answers. He hopes that the project can inspire others to believe in the power of love, in whatever way “love” translates for them, and that they can realize that loving yourself is just as important as loving others.
The project is currently being crowdfunded through Kickstarter via https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/love-always-wins/love-always-wins. The goal is to be able to print the art pieces as posters and put them up in as many cities as possible in America. Crowdfunders are able to select pledge options that would allow them to receive an artwork of their choosing from the collection as a print.
Love and hate have been running relay races against each other since the beginning of time. Hate’s baton reaches checkpoints much quicker than love’s does, but love always wins in the end.
The baton is being passed to you now. Run for love. Help us win.
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