Mike Ondrovcik - Pride Protest and Celebration Window

This years ARTSPACE Pride Window features a riotous showing of the colourful gender, sexuality and romantic identity flags.

The background flag is the classic Pride Flag designed in 1978 by Gilbert Baker after he was approached by gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

The original flag included turquoise and pink but as those two colours did not always reproduce well they were omitted.

The two other large flags are the new Progress Pride Flag one including the circle intersex symbol and the pink, turquoise and white trans flag.

The banners strings of mini flags display a number of the other representational flags available.

The sculptural piece entitled “ Privilege “ figures prominently in the front of the window.

This assemblage sculpture is that of a human figure who's skin is the colours the gay and trans rights rainbows, The figure shows a myriad of the distressing signs of severe beatings and torture, humiliation and physiological abuse, fatigue and imprisonment.

The colours are not as bright as they once were for they have been through much ......they are dirty, and bruised, torn and scraped. My sculpture stands as a tribute to LGBTQ2S peoples, worldwide, who are still fighting & facing imprisonment, torture and or death in the ever ongoing quest to live life free as whom they are and to freely love who they love.

Ondrovcik calls this piece “ privilege “ as a reminder to all of us here in Canada, that we live a “privileged“ life.

But on stating that, we must be aware that there is still have much to do to insure equal rights for everyone.

We must be constantly watchful and on guard, as there are those that would threaten our hard earned and fought for rights and freedoms.

We must defiantly stand up and stand beside those who are still fighting for full human rights and freedoms here in Canada and around the world.

Mike believes that we live in the greatest country on this tiny blue dot of a planet. As it citizens we must work hard to maintain this standard of life.

As we celebrate with our Pride parades, festivals and celebrations take time to remember those who came before us, those who fought for our freedom to live as who we are. We cannot take, what we have now for granted.