An Invitation (fka No Nos Toquen, “Don’t Touch Us”)

Jess De Vitt describes herself as “a community visual artist educator, interested in creating socially engaged art that holds inclusive practices, to collaborate and share experiences.”

Jess painted the mural No Nos Toquen – Don’t Touch Us in 2019 to explore gender-based violence locally, and in her country of origin Mexico. In 2020, spoken word artist and community worker, Susie Mensah was invited to create text and poetry for/on the piece, drawing attention to intersecting themes of gender, anti-Indigenous violence, land theft, anti-Black racism, and discrimination against drug users and those living without homes. Jess and Susie confront the need to discuss gender based violence within the context of the colonial violence that has taken place on Turtle Island.

"More Public Art Please, More Walls where these Words can Live"

- Susie Mensah, Invitation, 2020, mural and spoken word artist

This work is An Invitation to the broader community to engage with explicit cries for justice. It is important to see this piece in a neighbourhood where many people have been lost to the drug war and police violence. “It is a powerful visual that speaks to oppression without images of ugliness or violence” stated co-researcher Olympia Trypis. The surrounding area, Queen Street West on the cusp of Parkdale, is also a space in which condo development has been booming. The bright colours of the mural contrast against the monochrome colours in modern architecture, drawing people in “only to later hit them with critical thought-provoking text” as described by co-researcher Jahmal Nugent. This mural covers the entirety of the oblong, egg-like, boulder-like structure fronting Curry’s across from the Drake Hotel.

The artists felt it important to be explicit in this mural. Their bold honesty, as well as their engagement with the community, compels many passers-by to be appreciative of what it offers in message. During the summer of 2020 it was important to see artists creating provocative works across Toronto.

Listen to the artists speak to their work

See more about Jess De Vitt’s research journey leading to movements in Mutual Aid here