On Land, In Absence
This is a virtual art installation based on a version that ran from September to October, 2026, on campus at University Canada West (UCW) .
On Land, In Absence took place on the traditional, ancestral and unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. The project was developed in consultation with UCW’s Indigenous Action Committee.
The installation comes from a research project that asked international undergraduate students at UCW to talk about their role as newcomers to the goals of decolonization and reconciliation in Canada.
Over a series of workshops, 37 students from 8 countries created approximately 55 erasure poems. They used passages written by Indigenous authors Joshua Whitehead, Jessica Johns, Alicia Elliott, and Cody Caetano.
Working with these passages, students reflected on their own colonial histories, migration, hope, pain, healing, and belonging.
What is Erasure Poetry?
Erasure poetry is a style of writing that begins with a block of existing words like a paragraph or a short narrative arc. Words are selectively removed or blacked out , leaving visible only some words that becomes the poem. This allows a new work to emerge from something that already exists.
Within this project, the idea of erasure needs to be considered carefully. In colonization, erasure has often been a form of violence. It has involved the silencing of languages, cultures, knowledge systems, and peoples.
Throughout these workshops, students reflected on that history and ongoing reality. They also considered the extending question: How do we work together in decolonial relations by connecting to but not erasing another’s voice?
In this way, you will also see the Indigenous authors words as the foundation of this installation, part of every poem and showing strength and preservation.
On Land, In Absence
Virtual Poetry Art Installation
Room 2
Tutorial to create your own erasure Poem
Check out On Land, In Absence: An Immersive Erasure Poetry Art Installation on Instagram to see photos of the installation and featured poems.