Seize This Space
Seize This Space
Jeff Thomas
2000-11
Ottawa, Ontario
Photography
Seize the Space was a long-term, participatory photography project that engaged with the empty space left by the scout's relocation. The project began when artist and curator Greg Hill (Kanienʼkehá꞉ka / Mohawk) placed his canoe on the empty pedestal and posed for a photograph; shortly after, Thomas began inviting friends and community members to pose on the pedestal. By using the empty space left by the scout's relocation, Thomas reasserts Indigenous urban presence, resilience, and self-representation. The project takes a space of colonial public memory and transforms it into a participatory, pedagogical space of lived public history.