Quote

I didn't want to give the white reader an opportunity to think of racism as imaginary - a sentiment that is already a central barrier in addressing the problem.

Vivek Shraya

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

Vivek Shraya
Giving
Racism
Think
Reader
Addressing
Thinking
Already
Barrier
Opportunity
Sentiment
White
Sentiments
Didn
Imaginary
Give
Barriers
Problem
Central

More quotes by Vivek Shraya

Image
I have dedicated a significant portion of my time and artistry to making art that addresses various forms of oppression, including white supremacy, misogyny, and biphobia.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I do use art as a site of protest, particularly in relation to dominant narratives.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I always work with text orally in the writing process, saying passages aloud to measure flow.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I have always considered the aesthetic of a project, including press photos, as a means to further the message of the art itself.
Vivek Shraya
Image
If anything, I have witnessed the ways my art travels, or is rendered more accessible, when sanctioned by or connected to white artists.
Vivek Shraya
Image
When I do book readings, I always incorporate music or singing.
Vivek Shraya
Image
Now is not the time for Canadians to be sanctimonious. It is time for us to be prudent and active.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I used singing as a safety measure. I would pay attention to what songs the popular girls liked, learn those songs from the radio or library cassettes, and then accidentally sing or hum these songs in class. This would impress the girls, who would then defend me from the boys.
Vivek Shraya
Image
Children's books have great potential to reveal new possibilities to readers, because the intended audience is at an age of genuine learning.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I couldn't write about love without writing about hate - specifically, how the experience of hatred embeds itself in the body and prevents love from entering or leaving.
Vivek Shraya
Image
As a person of color, I know race can't be stripped from admiration or preference.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I have been and continue to be committed to art as a tool to ignite, comfort, and discomfort.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I worry about what Trump will inspire in Canada, especially given incidents that have already occurred here since the election.
Vivek Shraya
Image
In my thirties, I have felt a greater urgency to make art that highlights what it feels like to be racialized, likely due to living in a country that obscures our racism with the idea of multiculturalism.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I recently did a reading at an elementary school in Ottawa, and one of the children asked me if I was a girl. I said yes. Another child commented that I had a deep voice. I responded: Can girls have deep voices? There was a pause and then the group responded, Yes!
Vivek Shraya
Image
Making music has been connected to one of my greatest heartaches, because my own music has never quite connected with audiences. But it was this heartache that pushed me to explore other artistic avenues, like writing and filmmaking, and I ultimately feel most at home in a multidisciplinary environment.
Vivek Shraya
Image
My art career often feels less like an art career and more like a career in educating, usually by using my body.
Vivek Shraya
Image
As a brown artist, I have mixed feelings about my relationship to art and my responsibilities post-Trump.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I continue to explore poetry.
Vivek Shraya
Image
I don't yet know what style will be required for my next novel, but my sense is that each book will involve a new relationship to language.
Vivek Shraya