June 16, 2023 Convocation, University of Victoria, Canada
Zainub Verjee, an award-winning public intellectual and cultural diplomat, is renowned for her pursuit of art as a public good, the university said. Born in Kenya, Zainub Verjee is a laureate of the 202 Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts.
Verjee served as executive director of the Western Front, an artist-run contemporary art centre in Vancouver, co-founded In Visible Colours, an International film and video festival for women of colour and contributed to the pioneering prison theatre program at Matsqui Penitentiary. She was integral to the formation of the British Columbia Arts Council, the university said.
In her commencement address Zainub highlighted: “Art is one of the major conduits for “thoughtful doing”. It has a huge power to make us think and question the world that we live in, and to take action and to find our agency.”
Dr Verjee is a recipient of honorary doctorates from OCAD University, NSCAD University and Simon Fraser University. She was also awarded the Governor General’s Visual and Media Arts Award for outstanding contribution to the arts in 2020.
A Senior Fellow of Massey College and McLaughlin College Fellow, she is also a director on the Board of Aga Khan Museum.
[Verjee’s speech: 54:00 -1.15.00]
Ismailimail 