The REDress Project is a public art installation created by Métis artist Jaime Black in 2010 (with its first major exhibition in 2011) to raise awareness about the Murdered and Missing Indigenous Women (MMIW) crisis in Canada and the United States. It has since become a global symbol of remembrance, resilience, and justice for Indigenous women, girls, and Two-Spirit people.
Black was working at the Urban Shaman Contemporary Aboriginal Art gallery in Winnipeg when she attended a conference in Germany. There, she heard Jo-Ann Episkenew speak about the hundreds of missing and murdered Indigenous women in Canada. Inspired, she proposed hanging empty red dresses in a workshop at the University of Winnipeg’s Institute for Women’s and Gender Studies. The idea came to her while listening to Episkenew, and she later cited the cover of Métis author Maria Campbell’s novel The Book of Jessica as an influence.
Black chose red after conversations with an Indigenous friend who told her red is the only color the spirits can see. She sees it to “call back” the spirits of missing women and allow their voices to be heard through families and communities. Red also symbolizes lifeblood, vitality, and the connection between all people, while also representing the violence they face. They empty dresses represent the women who are missing or murdered, suggesting the presence of those who should be wearing them.
Since its inception, the project has grown into a global movement. The REDress Project is both a powerful artistic statement and a living memorial, a call to action that continues to encourage people to advocate to change and awareness for Indigenous women and girls here in North America and around the world.
