Project Overview
Commissioned by the City of Toronto, Hosting and Holding Grief was a series of community workshops designed to create space for storytelling, acknowledgement, and shared processing of loss, harm, and inequity before rushing toward solutions or systemic fixes.
Project Description & Outcomes
The workshops were built on the belief that before rushing forward with solutions to systemic issues and persistent inequities, communities need room to grieve, process, and be human together. The series created opportunities for BIPOC and marginalized community members to name where loss and harm had been felt, and to be witnessed in that experience. The workshops were tailored to the goals and communities involved, in line with DIA’s broader practice of elevating and amplifying voices that are too often overlooked in solution-focused processes.
These workshops are tailored to the goals, projects, and individuals we work with. If you are interested in hosting a workshop for your team or group, contact us to book a consultation.
What we Practiced
- Telling the Truth
- Holding & Metabolizing Contradictions
- Practicing Curiosity
What we Imagined
A city and sector that makes space for grief as a legitimate and necessary part of working toward equitable futures — where communities aren’t asked to perform resilience before they’ve had a chance to acknowledge what has been lost.