Our five years in Winnipeg culminated into garnering a reputable Canadian art collection and having quintessential neighbors that epitomized a Rockwellian family.  And when selling our house proved challenging our grievances truly became theirs.  
Shortly before we left the city, I went over to see photos of an immersive costume party they had attended. Amidst jovial tales I was gobsmacked at the lack of qualms in praising their host, who was dressed as a Nazi officer.

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feature image: Enchanted Owl by Kenojuack Ashevak (1927–2013); Kenojuack is a part of a pioneering generation of Arctic creators. Her work exudes a bright vibrant energy with a touch of whimsy, all wrapped in a pure wonder for the natural world She continues to be recognized as one of Canada’s preeminent cultural icons; source, West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative Ltd. (L) Shall we Venture outside by Marcel Dzama; Dzama investigates human action and motivation, as well as the blurred relationship between the real and the subconscious. Drawing from folk vernacular, art-historical and contemporary influences, Dzama’s work visualizes a universe of childhood fantasies and otherworldly fairy tales; source, Artspace (R) Dreamline series by Wanda Koop; Koop explores how modern urban society and the natural environment intersect. Creating work that straddles abstraction and figuration, the real and the imagined, the personal and the political. The results are nearly surreal landscapes with blurred swaths of color and deliberate drips of paint that invite viewers to closely investigate and interpret them; source, DMA

A decade later this incident still haunts me; and in the same manner as the millennial in Roupenian’s, ‘Cat person’ I castigate myself.  I wonder if I had inadvertently invited this by sanitizing myself of all cultural particularities?

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(L) Animal Unity, by Norval Morriseau (1932-2007); Morriseau, was an Indigenous Canadian Artist and the “Picasso” of the North”, His works depict the legends of his people, the cultural and political tensions between native Canadian and European traditions, his existential struggles, and his deep spirituality and mysticism; source, Wikipedia. (R) Graphite 1 by Don Proch; Proch made some of the most ambitious sculptures and installations of his time: where the land imprints itself on the body; where farm machinery, and the intractable harshness of the land are transmuted into myth; source, Border crossings

Recently back from a trip with a motley of friends, I noticed the deliberateness with how one placed her Muslim identity in conversations;  as if it were an affirmation.
My interactions are contrary to this. I refused to be filtered through an Indian hue-weighed against preconceived ideas. 

The sequela, after we left Winnipeg, I went from having daily organic conversations to avoiding my neighbor’s Facebook friend request. 

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-person

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above image, Passing Calgary by Bruce Head (1931-2009), In 1953, he was one of a few whose work sparked a dramatic surge of interest in contemporary art on Canada’s Prairies and a fresh, Prairie-based visual movement; source, Winnipeg Free Press